Rope Mill Dirty/Muddy duathlon post-race thoughts

-Rained last night so the course was slick and muddy. It was an accomplishment for me to ride clean (no crashes) Dialed back some and babied a few corners.

-Raced with the singlespeed because of the gearing simplicity and I figure I was just as fast if not faster versus the geared bike. At the start, about 10 racers jumped ahead of me. I really need to figure out how to keep up with those jackrabbit starts.

- Got bogged down again as the bikes stacked up in the first quarter mile. It was a steep rocky climb. Some hike-a-bike through there because of the logjams. This definitely slowed me down. I normally do this loop in 35 minutes give or take so I was 2 minutes off my pace. Seems like some of the racers had never ridden before.

- 2 jerks behind me for a few miles kept talking about passing me but never did. Kept yelling out "guys let us pass!" "we really gotta pass these guys" The guy in front of me yelled "Either execute or shut the f*ck up!" HA!
Finally I let both of them pass but in hindsight I should've made them stay back there a bit longer :)

- Finished the first lap in 37 due to hijinks on the course from newb riders that didn't know how to go over a log or rock and would come to a complete stop! A few times had to run with the bike (CX training!) Running part was surprisingly good, no outer knee pain with taking the downhills fast! Legs were extremely heavy on the run and hard to move! 3rd lap on bike was actually 2 minutes faster than the 1st because there was no logjamming. Surprising because I felt SLOW and sloppy out there on lap 2.

- Overall, I'm pleased with how well I biked. I'm sure I could've found 2 minutes out there for a 3rd place finish. I handled my bike and my emotions well. I felt calm amid all the chaos of crashing bikes and asshole racers. I may even begin to like this running thing too.

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Allatoona Creek trail run race report

First year doing the Allatoona Creek race. Missed it last year because I had a duathlon on the same day. This course is sneakily difficult with the most challenging being the Mason's Bridge section. On a bike, it's easier and more fun because you can roll through all the dips but running through those is really tough. There aren't very many climbs and no big hills but that course is a grinder. There was a torrential rainfall a few days before the race so the first 3 miles was a mud run through open cross-country. I really liked this part though felt I got off to a slow start. Pacing is so difficult because I don't know how much energy I need to spare. Feet were wet out of the gate but it was no big deal. There's a twisted part of me that prefers adverse conditions. Went in to the singletrack section at Rusty Bucket and shuffled through twisty sections, not very fast through there. In fact, I felt leaden the entire race. I had ran the da...

Solar Eclipse 2017

The solar eclipse just happened and it has me feeling cosmic and appreciative of our wondrous universe. It makes me feel pretty small and realize that most of my concerns are really trivial. I was amazed at how the quality of light changed and how the crickets began to chirp. Not to mention the crescent-shaped lights on the ground beneath the trees. We had a colander out viewing crescents on the patio because we had no solar glasses. Briefly, a cloud covered the sun and we looked up for a few seconds at the eclipse. Then some neighbors let us borrow their glasses. They are neighbors who for some reason we have never even spoken to, but people realize this is a rare event, so it makes us more human, more kind. This is an amazing time to be alive, with my daughter just turning 1 year old and now this truly inspiring event of nature. One can't help but feel gratitude and a sense of contentment. One of my favorite Carl Sagan quotes: “The surface of the Ea...

Thundering Silence: Backpacking on the Appalachian Trail

Ventured out on my first backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail, or AT as its known in the hiking community. I hadn't been backpacking since I was in the Scouts, when we did a 10-miler at Kennesaw Mountain. My wife Renee had never been backpacking although we had both been primitive car-camping before and we each share a love of the outdoors. This trip had been in the making for a few years with us sharing a "Wouldn't that be awesome," conversation or two. I also recall my dad saying how neat it would be to hike the entire AT when I was a kid, a lofty goal to be sure. Renee and I are both in pretty good shape from running and bicycling so we figured that a 2-night trip on the AT would be feasible. We were right...mostly. We purchased our backpacking and camping gear the week before and took a practice hike at a local trail. We did a trial run at Sutallee Trace in Canton to test the waters and get the packs dialed in. I felt some new muscles being wor...

Mountain Bikes, Bass Guitar, and other stuff I like

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