DINO New Castle XTERRA

Located in France Park, DINO New Castle is the first of two DINO XTERRA races. A great .5 mile swim, followed by a marginally technical 11 mile mountain bike ride, and finished with a 4.1 mile run, New Castle is a great event with much varied terrain.



Setting up for transition, Ted and I arrived early and got some primo spots at opposing racks in the center of transition. We didn't see an advantage to one side or the other as you enter one end, exit the opposing side each time through.

With one of the top swims on the day, Ted exits the water at the head of the pack:



I came out less than 45 seconds behind Ted, mostly because I got off line. The swim is the only part of the day that I can usually keep Ted in sight!

With the 2nd fastest bike leg, Ted comes out of T2 with only a couple competitors ahead of him:



And on to the 2nd place overall finish (3rd best run), Ted wins his age group:



I came in at 24th overall, 4th in my age group:



Ted - 1:37:06 - 2nd overall, 1st AG
Brandon - 1:56:19 - 24th overall, 4th AG

Jubilee Jam MTB Race

Ted and I decided to make the trip down to the Peoria-area for one of PAMBA's (Peoria Area Mountain Biker Association) I-74 Series races.

Composed of four categories, First Timers, Novice, Sport, and Expert, I raced in both Novice and Sport while Ted just focused on Sport. Being much newer to mountain bike racing, I laid it on the line for the novice class, while deciding to ride sport to gain some trail time/experience, more race-day experience, and a good workout.



Novice Race-

Turns out, Novice was enough for me, or at least my bike. With a sprint start, I think I went into the trail in roughly 12th place. For the first 15 minutes or so, I spent time just trying to dodge all of the people crashing and slowing down the group.

Lap 1 - 21:05

Going into lap 2 I was feeling good. I was with riders who were much closer to my pace, though I think my engine was a bit better. I passed a few more guys and had my first chance to ride alone for a few minutes.

Lap 2 - 15:21

Final lap; feeling a little tired, but still pretty good. At the beginning of the final lap I decided to put some power down, hoping I could hold on. A race medic yelled to me I was in 5th place with roughly 2/3 of a lap to go, or about 3 miles. I passed 2 guys on the laps' only long-hard climb and put a little space between myself and them.

Lap 3 - 15:05

Final result - 4th. WHAT?! I thought I had third. Turns out the medic mis-counted. Oh well, 4th overall, 3rd in the male 20-29 category.



Sport Race-



I could feel some lactic acid still built up when lining up for this race. I knew I'd have to take it easy, and just have fun. At the start, Ted took off and hit the trail head in about 16th place, I would guess I was around 20th.



Surprisingly enough I kept Ted in sight for 12-14 minutes! At that point I was already at red line and only half-way through the first of 3 laps! I had to let up and he pulled away immediately.



Shortly after that, I dismounted for a long muddy climb, but couldn't get clipped back in. Thinking it was just built-up mud I stomped my left cleat into the pedal and, BAM! Clipped in! Problem? The crank arm was no longer attached to the bike, even though it was attached to my shoe! The crank arm bolt had come loose on me. I jumped off, did a bit of work to get the arm back on and rode about 3-4 more minutes until it fell off again.

Time to pack it in. I was dogged, and this was the perfect time for a mechanical (if there ever is one!). I walked about 20 minutes back to the start/lap/finish line and called it a day.

Ted ended up finishing 5th overall in the Sport category, good enough to upgrade to expert. That was really his only goal for the day.

All said and done, a good day at the races for us I think!

XTERRA Lock 4 Blast

Lock 4 is one of the original Xterra courses. Any course that has been around that long must be good. I wanted to do this race for a long time, and this year I finally got a chance to go down there.



I convinced Brandon to do this race also, so the drive down I - 65 to Tennesee wasn't too terrible. We stopped at Cracker Barrel, the team's unofficial retaurant, for dinner. I drove as long as I could through the night, then we slept in the car.



We got there a full day before the race, so we had plenty of time to do some course recon. We prerode three laps on the bike course and one lap on the run. The trails are fun with a little bit of everything from rocks, drop offs, power climbs, and fast, tight sections. We probably rode too much the day before the race, but if your going to a race 10 hours away, you might as well take advantage of all the fun stuff the place has to offer.



I had the typical prerace jitters because I knew if I wanted to have a shot at the regoinal point series title, I would have to win my age group at this race. Competing in a different region, I didn't know who the contenders were.



Race day the water was hot, sufficatingly hot. At the gun I saw Cheryl Stine and I tried to stay on her feet, but then some guy who looked like Brandon (yet he denies it) kept swimming into me and knocked me off her draft. So much for getting a good draft, but I probably couldn't hang with her anyway. She's fast.



Once out of the water i got on the bike and put it in the big ring. Right away I knew I didn't have my mojo on this particular day. The warm bathwater swim combined with the stifling southern heat took all my power away. Digging deep I passed some of the fast swimmers within the first mile or two of the bike and then settled in to a sustainable pace.



After no flats or crashes on a lonely bike ride, I headed out on the run. There were so many relay teams in this multi lap race I could not tell how many individual competitors were ahead of me.



Right out of transition I saw a guy in my age group flying out of T2. His pace was fast and I did all I could to stay on his heels. After about 2 miles I though I was about to blow when he started slowing down too. I took this opportunity to pass him and look strong while I did it just so he wouldn't try to challenge me. Once I got out of his sight I settled back in while trying to reel in anyone else ahead of me. I knew Omar Fraser and Jamie Whitmore were just ahead of me so I kept pressing the pace even though i was quite dehydrated by this point.



By the end I didn't move up any more spots overall and it turns out that guy I was chasing was on a relay team.



Overall I didn't do too great, but there were a lot of great competitors here. Competition will make me stronger later in the year.



I won my age group so that was all that really mattered. I accomplished step one of my three step plan to retain my regional point series title. Now I need to win my age group at New Castle and get on the podium at Utah. Not an easy task but this race gave me confidence that may training is coming along just fine.



Brandon had a break through race as well. He finished third in his age group for his first podium at an Xterra race. I knew he could do it and I'm glad I convinced him to come down to the race. His mountain biking is improving as he is getting used to riding his new Orbea. Now he has the confidence that he can compete on a higher level. Look out for him moving up the point series standings in the next month or two.