"What's that noise?" part 2.

Just a random pick that has nothing to do with this post.


Well I am back from my Wed night ride with the gang. Speaking of nothing to do with this post. Today reminded me of my home in south GA. 95 degrees and a little humidity. Just for the record, I really laugh inside when I hear folks talk about how hot it is right now. I have lived in the heat of south GA most of my life. 4-5 months of the year 90+ with 100+ humidity. July and August gets around 100 on both scales. And don't even think it cools off at night either. It was nothing for me to be on the bike at 6:30 AM and it be 75 degrees and 90+ humidity. Oh, and one other thing, THERE IS NO SHADE ON THOSE RIDES. Well, unless its cloudy. Farms rule the southern plains. Peanut fields on one side and corn on the other. Gee, I feel so lucky to have shade trees on most of my rides in Alleghany county. See, one reason I laugh when folks talk about how hot it is is because I don't complain about the cold. I usually ride year round and its nothing for me to put the layers on and go out for a 75 + mile ride in sub freezing temp. My coldest ride was leaving out at 18 degrees and it never got above 28. Yeah, its cold but it beats staying at home wishing it was warmer. So stop whining about the temp!



Actually the temp has nothing to do with this post. This is part 2 of "what's that noise?" Where is part one? It will come a little later. Back to the Wed night ride. As usual, it is hard and fast. My primary objective is to hang on as long as I can. On the way back to the stadium, I kept hearing a clicking sound in the drivetrain. I have yet to learn that when you hear something that doesn't sound right, stop and inspect. So I am at a light downtown waiting for it to turn green and make my left.

Did you know that majority of all motorcycle accidents occur at an intersection where the car is turning left not yielding to the oncoming rider? Yep, I found that out when taking my motorcycle drivers exam. Well I'll save that for another post. I have some complaints about some of the questions provided by our DMV.

The light turns, I clip in, and begin to pedal hard to get through the intersection. SNAP, SPIN, WOBBLE, HOLY CRAP, WHAT WAS THAT, I AM STUCK IN THE BUSY INTERSECTION WITH NO POWER! I look down at my drive train and realized I am missing something--my chain. This was my 2nd chain to break this month. My mtb chain broke on a climb at Douthat. Anyway, I am standing in a lane trying to find my
chain. There it was, in the middle of the intersection waiting for cars to run over it.


Not wanting my chain to experience a horrible death via hit and run, I stopped traffic and rescued it from harm's way. I held the chain up, moved it around in a snake like fashion, and said, "its still alive!"


I really love those Connex chains, the easy links make it so easy to take the chain off. I thought that maybe the link broke.

Upon inspection, a factory link that has never been broken or tampered with in any way was broke. So, I broke out my handy dandy multitool, re-connected the broken link and easily made my way back to the stadium. I could hear this clicking sound every time the chain made a revolution

Lesson not learned: If something doesn't sound right on the bike, stop and inspect it. It might save some further damage to the bike or yourself. Maybe this blog will remind me to do that next time. Too be continued. . .

Mountain Do Tri

This is my first tri of the year at Hungry Mother State Park in Marion VA. April 22. If I were a wise person I would have looked at the green blob on accuweather and stayed at home. Lessons from the past are quickly forgot. My first USCF race was in Greenville SC several years ago during March. 38 degrees, pouring rain, and 20+ mph winds. I was dropped in the first couple of miles. Well, I remember seeing that green blob on the TV, but it was sunny outside. Its not going to rain. You would think I have learned from my mistakes. Nope! So off we go. I took one of my senior high students with me. Ryan will be attending Randolf Macon this fall and entering the ministry. I figured that two holy guys could ward off the evils of mother nature. All went well until about 3 am Sat. morning. The wind and rain seemed violent. Of course it all sounds worse in a tent.


Have you ever tried to prepare for a race during a downpour? Its not fun. I don't mind riding in the rain but I hate getting ready in the rain. A little boiling water added to Mountain House Chili Mac and we have got a great pre-race meal. That stuff stays with you throughout the race. If we are lucky, we might even be able to taste it during the event. Anyway, we are off to set up the kayaks and bikes. I have got a 14ft trecking kayak and so glad I did. It was sweet on the lake. 6 mile trail run, 1 mile lake kayak, 12 mile mtb.

I think I have said this before but it needs repeating. I HATE RUNNING! The gun goes off and 150 soaking wet competitors take off. I was hoping to do the run in under an hour. Finished it in 54 min and was pumped. Glad to be done with that now lets see if I can paddle. Only used a kayak once before. Kept it in a straight line and caught up with a few folks. I even caught Ryan who ran it in 45 min. We took to the shores together and jumped on the bike. This was his first Tri, first kayak, first Mtb ride, and first time using clipless pedals. Remember your fist time going clipless? Man I do and that is a story for another blog.


The trails aren't technical but they were drenched. I need a fender. Do those things really work? I have got only one good eye and mud kept sneaking past my glasses into my eye. And why does it go in my good one and not my bad one? Anyway, I wanted to make sure Ryan didn't have too many problems so I rode a good bit with him. Oh yeah, I am sure you know Murphy's Law about making changes on you bike before a race. Well, I moved my Sram grip shifters and Avid levers out about 1/2 inch. I forgot to tighten the shifters. I go to twist them forward and the whole shifter is turning. The first time I was in the large chainring flying downhill when I see a steep climb coming up. I attempted to twist it to the middle ring and the whole thing moved. Like a idiot I quickly grabbed it with my right and and twisted it with my left. Both hands on the same side of the bars going downhill is not wise. Somehow by the grace of God, I didn't crash. Throughout the rest of the course, I had to constantly use both hands to shift.

We finished together covered head to toe in mud. It was a lot of fun and I hope to do it again next year. Our times were not great. In fact we finished near the back. Time to load up the kayaks and head home. Some folks have to work on Sunday!

Greenbrier River Race

Saturday, May 29. What a day for a race! Clear skies and around 70 degrees. Ryan and I loaded up the 4-Runner and drove to Marlington VA for the Greenbrier River Race. The triathlon consists of a 3 mile run, 4 mile kayak, and 10 mile bike. The run and bike were along the Greenbrier River Trail, www.greenbrierrivertrail.com . 20 years ago the town was devastated by a flood and some locals decided to put on a family fun fundraiser to help the town get back on its feet.



We arrived in Marlington around 8 Sat. morning, picked up our race packets and unloaded the gear. The only problem with doing a tri with a kayak is figuring out where to put the kayak and bikes. We managed to carry 3 people, 2 bikes, and 2 kayaks. We drew straws to see who was going to sit in the kayaks on top of the 4-Runner. They make great seats for extra passengers!




I rode the bike route the day before and learned that 4 of the 10 miles were paved. This race was advertised as "offroad." I guess it was since no vehicles were allowed to travel on the paved trail. Anyway, 6 of the 10 miles were hardpacked gravel. So I opted to use my road bike and aero bars. This had to be the flattest 10 miles in WV. I am from South GA and the roads aren't this flat. There were no roots, big rocks, washouts, climbs, ditches, creek crossing or any other of the niceties you find on a singletrack.

Ryan, a highschool senior and member of my youth group, runs a sub 18 5k. I hate him almost as bad as I hate running. Running is pure agony for me and I don't know why I even do these things. But I figured it had to be better than running 6 miles last week.

The race starts and I keep up with the fast ones for about 100 yards. After that, I was ready to quit. Ryan finished 3rd on the run and the first runner finished with a sub 16 3miler. I was pleased with my 24 min. I knew if I could ever make it to the bike I could make up some time against all those fat knobby tires. But then again, there is only so much you can do in 10 miles.

Jumped into the kayak and off for 4 miles downstream. One thing I learned is that the longer sleaker kayaks are faster. I paddled as hard as I could in my little 9 ft Swifty and wasn't going anywhere. Then I realized I was on a sandbar. Not really, but it felt that way. If I would have had the 14ft kayak I used last week I would have knocked off at least 5 min. After 48 min. the kayak was over, but then I still had to run 1/4 mile to the bike. Have I mentioned I hate running. Helmet and shoes on and I am finally off.

Immediately, I started passing Mtbikers every 1/2 mile. Even on the gravel, my tiny slicks seemed to glide on top. After 6 miles I hit the pavement and my forearms began to cramp. All I could do is keep the hands locked on the bars and pedal. I passed at least 20 riders before approaching the finish. Took a 90 degree turn to the left and headed for the finish line 200 yards away. I saw a Mtb about 50 yards ahead of me and I thought this might be the only sprint I will ever win. So I cranked it as hard as I could, lunged at the line and beat the guy out by about a bike length. He never saw it coming. Who cares if he was on a full suspension, 40 lb Walmart bike. For that moment, I felt like Petachi, Zabel, or McEwan. And where was my photography to capture the once in a lifetime finish, kissing her boyfriend Ryan.

Just crossed the finish, about to puke and some lady runs up to me and starts tugging at my butt. She informed me that she had to get my #. I got excited for a minute and gave it too her and then she said, "No, I need your race #." Oh well!

I am not sure of all the final results but Ryan and I finished just a couple of minutes off 3rd place. He finished about a minute ahead of me. Ok you finished after me so you have to ride in the kayak home. Losing is tough!