How the unnamed Marin got its name

Its been a while since I've posted, 6 hours of Warrior Creek recap I believe.  I stopped riding due to not eating enough food (which could have been solved by eating some and waiting to digest some) and a sore neck.   Once you have ridden with a sore neck, you never realize how much you want to turn your head.  Anyway this has been on going for about 3 weeks. I have tried new pillows, icy-hot, etc, but I think what I needed was rest from the bike, so I really haven't ridden decent mileage since then.  As I was driving up to Lake Norman State Park, I was thinking it was time to get back on the horse, figuratively anyway.  Then it hit me, who is the most famous horse you know.  Seabiscut. Oh, also the Kentucky Derby is coming up and I thought it be appropriate timing as well for it.

Introducing...Seabiscut.

I know, I have used this photo before, but I am to lazy to walk down to the garage to take another one so deal with it.

Another fun adventure I had on my few weeks off non-biking was waking up early to help with the Charlotte Youth Cycling league.  

This was the only picture I took, I tried to get the rain and didn't want to get the camera out so again, deal with my crappy photography.

 I was out there early to set up the youngest kids course, and stayed to help clean up.  I even was out there for a few mini laps at Fisher Farm as a course marshal, making sure the little rebels didnt get lost or hurt.  It was fun except for the weather.  Rain.  The first 2 hours it was just a light drizzle so they didn't call the event off as the rain never got to the trail.  The 2nd 2 hours was miserable and cold.  The oldest group (16-18) only had one person sign up, so the call was made to take down the course markings and high tail it out of there to a warm shower.

I ended up going back to Fisher Farm the next weekend for the Sun and Ski shop clinic.   There were a few brave souls (about 6) who came to learn some basics of mountain biking.  It is always nice when a shop gets involved in the community.  Most of the shops in the Charlotte area do this as well and that is why Charlotte is such an underrated mountain bike Mecca. Anyway we had fun teaching them the basics of braking, drops, roots, shifting, etc.    Heres Patrick (not me as I had the camera) tackling the boulder garden and having fun.  We played around on that boulder garden for about 15 minutes just having fun.

And finally back to the title of the story, this past weekend. 

I decided to make the trip up to Lake Norman State park and check out the 28 miles of trail there.  Since there was a race in South Carolina this weekend, my buddy options were limited, so I went by myself and just enjoyed the ride.  I wanted to take pictures but was having to much fun to stop.  After 3 hours of what I thought was decent pace ride, it hit all the trails and decided to call it a day.  I should have called it a day earlier in the day (did that make sense) because I ended up coming home and doing yard work.  Figure that one out. 

I did end up getting this sweet jersey from Sun and Ski though from Twin Six.  I don't know how this was on the clearance rack, but it pretty sweet. I think I should have washed it before wearing it though, it rubbed my nipples (I have sensitive nipples), but I also looked sexy with it open blowing in the wind. 

Thats about it, me and Seabiscut will try to make some more adventures before going off to Illinois in a few weeks for some family obligations.  But thats really just an excuse to ride out of town and drink more beer.

Warrior Creek Recap

37 degrees.  That is what I awoke to at 430 in the morning because I couldn't sleep anymore.  I was afraid to trust my alarm as the Burrower (check our her blog here) was out of the time zone in Illinois (don't pronounce the "s") visiting family and welcoming my new newphew Peyton James to the world.  I stayed back to make sure the dogs got fed and because I signed up for this race in October.

Anyway, back to the story, me and Steve met up at the Trek Store in Charlotte to carpool up to the 6 Hours of Warrior Creek in Wilkesboro NC.  I did manage to see the Mutt coming out of his place where I assumed he stayed all night.

These are some of the best trails you will find anywhere in the country and they are basically in my backyard.

39 degrees, that was the temperature right after the pre-race announcements.  Me being the smart one I am looked at the weather forecast and didn't do a darn thing about it.  I just brought my jersey and shorts for the ride.  I saw everyone dressed up in arm warmers, leg warmers, wind breakers.  Me, I just found a sunny spot and waited for the start.  I am glad I did though. As soon as the race started, it was on like Donkey Kong.

I started off in the back, letting most everyone go ahead of me.  This being my 3rd year signing up for a 6 hour race I knew what to expect and decided not to rush myself.  I was happily moving along in the first lap after dealing with crashes, people dabbing their foot, falling off their bikes into ravines, the usual for a mass 300 person start.

Finally around mile 8 of 12.5 I was "lucky" enough to have the person in front of me fall and hit a tree.  After the obligatory "are you ok" I lost the group of 10 I was traveling with.  Seeing how I was only riding for 45 minutes at that point I made the decision not to waste energy by trying to chase them down.  It was a smart move at that point.  I had an open trail in front of me and I could see the group about 4 or 5 turns ahead.  I didn't waste any extra energy using my brakes needlessly and stopping and starting and I caught up to them right at the start/finish line.

This is where I made a mistake.  I swapped out my water bottle, took some electrolyte tablets (for my leg cramps which I knew would be coming soon) and headed out.  I didn't eat any food which was a mistake to haunt me later.

Lap 2 was pretty uneventful. I just enjoyed the trail, talked a bit with a few people before I passed them or they past me and kept going.  But towards the end I started to feel hungry.  I grossly underestimated  my calorie usage and the stomach felt weary (but the legs and lungs were strong).  It is hard to figure out what to eat for a 6 hour race when the longest in which I have rode is about 2 hours.  But I finished the 2nd lap and ate some clifBars, grabbed more electrolytes and more water bottles and headed out for lap 3.

I was feeling real good but just weak.  My leg cramps were keeping under control, I was keeping my fluids down.  I enjoyed the rest of the 3rd lap and decided to take a seat.  I had more than enough time to go out for another lap (over an hour and a half before the cutoff time), and very possibly could have gotten 2 more in (if I was in shape).  But I decided to sit down, enjoy the sun and have myself a beer (err, not allowed on federal grounds, it was a coke with a lot of foamy head)

The final results weren't bad for my time, I was the 3 or 4th person to "finish" with 3 laps, so I must have been doing ok.  It was fun time to just hang out in the pits as always and watch everyone else suffer while you have a cold refreshing "coke" and cheering them on.  I met a lot of great and fun people on the trails and in the pits and it was a great event put on again, and learned more lessons about endurance mountain biking for next time.

My race calender is free for the next week or so, and then the Southern Classic Series starts up again.  This will definatly make me faster, maybe even a top 10 finish?  Nah, lets not get ahead of ourselves.