Yowza!

Been here, there, over there.  Doing this and that and about everything in between.  Been fun though.  I think I need to go all the way back to 2 weekends ago at the Rasta Rally!  Fun, Fun, Fun!  Still sick but could not miss this ride!  They take all the good trails at the camp there and make just an outstanding 12 mile loop that you just have to enjoy.  This year they made it better for Mark and I by delaying the race start this year and giving us time to get in a full lap of the course before the race!  Thanks!  I would eventually finish 2nd on the day and could not match Justin.  Congrats to him! 

From here it was clean the bikes pack, grab RK and Scott and head off to Ar-Kansas for the Syllamos Revenge.  Still hacking up a lung, but at least starting to turn the corner.  We arrived down in the dirty south just in time to ride the Green Loop and start the Nasty Catch Scratch weekend of overgrown trails.  Ouch!

Here is a nice shot of some of the singletrack.  This trail system has IMBA Epic status and it is sad after talking to the race director he was mentioning that in a couple years the trails might not even be there anymore do to the lack of community support and riders.  That sucks!

With the early arrival it felt as if we ended up with all this extra time.  Ryan wanted us to take him into town so that he could show off his down south attire, but Scott and I were not up to beating all the ladies off him so we hung out at the cabin most of the day.

Thats hot!  Michelle said that if he wore them again she would kick him off the team!!   To try and get that image out of your head here is a shot from the trails:

So for the race.  I went into this one not knowing what to expect after being sick for so long so at the start I just rode my pace up the first climb and entered the first section of singletrack sitting about 8th wheel or so.  I immediately let a gap open between me and the front group so that I could have a clean line going into all the sections.  I rode alright up to the first aid station, but was no match for the leaders.  With the technical nature of the trail though I found myself sitting 4th at aid station 1 with Drew, Christian, and Brandon off the front.  I was happy with that and just kept my pace.  Then just before aid 2 I saw Christian off the side of the trail with some pretty good scraps and a pretty good gouge in his knee.  I stopped to help and he told me to keep going.  I kept going then stopped at aid 2 to try and get someone to go back and help him.  The staff at aid 2 just stood there and looked at me!!  I finally got someone to go back for him, but in all the confusion, I rolled out of that aid stop without my bottles!  Not good, and I did not realize the mistake till almost 10 min later.  That just meant I had to make it the next 1.5hrs in 85 degree weather with no water!  I made it, but I was way behind on hydration now.  I stopped at aid 3 and put down an extra bottle before heading out on the red loop.  I came into aid 4 feeling fine and did the same, an extra bottle and I even stopped and ate some food as well.  I continued to the 2nd time around the yellow loop and this is when everything went wrong.  I was so overheated and dehydrated I had to take my helmet and gloves off, jersey completely unzipped and I just walked.  I had the chills, vomiting, and was completely bonked.  I just tried to walk and keep forward motion!  I finally cooled down some and got back on the bike and spun back to aid 5, but not before a couple riders got by me.  Luckily for me Kevin was at aid 5.  Unfortunate for him though, cause he broke his bike earlier in the day and had to DNF.  At aid station 5 he pretty much put me back together with lots of ice, water, Gatorade, and electrolytes.  Not sure how but after a few minutes he had me back on my bike for one more death march around the red loop!!  Thanks Kevin! In the end I finished 4th in the open field.  Then not far behind me was RK taking the sprint over Ernesto and the last podium spot in 5th! 

So if you have not seen some of the press, I think this is the best race recap.  Press can also be found here and here.

After the race it was a 14 hr death drive home that we started at 4am due to none of us sleeping cause of the fire scratches we received from the trails, so that is what Syallamos Revenge is all about! 

Now back home it was back to cleaning bikes and training again.  It is nice to be back to a training schedule and not feeling just awful!  Yesterday I had a great ride that included a covered bridge:

and a total of 5 hrs and 100 miles for my commute to work! 

Next up, a trip north to ride all the trails in the Keweenaw for the weekend!  Cant wait!