Sunday, June 28 was the 8th Race in the SERC cross country race series, held at the Raccoon Mountain trails in Chattanooga, TN. This is one of my favorite places to ride. Its typically a 17 mile loop complete with rolling singletrack, steep switchback climbs, and plenty of Tennessee rocks. My first time there was with Neal in '07 and snow was covering the ground, making the already tough rock sections even more epic. Each time I return it is more fun.

ok ok ok.. so I know we're a CYCLING team, and not a TRI team.. but..
I FINISHED THE IRON GIRL!!!!!

And it makes me super duper happy, and I got my times this morning,
and I wanted to share...
Bib No. 988
Kazz NEAL

Swim : 15:16
Tran1: 3:37
Bike : 1:26:17
Tran2: 2:29
Run : 40:54:00

Time :2:28:33

The swim was tough, but I got through it by just telling myself to get
to the next buoy. It was scary though. Lots of legs and arms all
flying about in your direction, and some girls randomly dropping out,

This past weekend I battled heatstroke and dehydration for two days of racing at the Cowbell Challenge in Davidson NC. It was 99 degrees on Saturday and about as humid as you can get-- people said the heat index was 115. The racing was about managing the heat as much as it was about anything else.

Well I thought the race on 6/14 was hot until I showed up at Dauset yesterday. I was sweating in the shade at 8:30am. It had been quite a while since I'd ridden Dauset so I was having a hard time remembering the trail. The start was in a new place this year, down by the lake. This was a good thing since it provided some much needed shade.

Race was hot, course was rooty, I didn't have the legs. That pretty much sums up my day. I learned an important lesson today and it is that I should stop pre-riding courses the day before the race. Well, not so much learned it today but certainly reinforced the thought. I'm too old and out of shape for that this year, maybe next.

Pretty uneventful day for me. Turn out for the race was a little low although my category always puts out 20+ riders.

Racing for FM were Ross, Eric B. and Ck. Results are posted here http://www.goneriding.com/2009/GSC/04-farmington/results.htm .

Well, I said I wasn't going to race in June, but this was too good to pass up. The Pisgah Brew Crew was putting on a test of speed, skills and endurance, and I wasn't going to miss it. I convinced a friend of my wife's to chaperone the fam while up in Asheville, called Bruce to secure some lodging, and changed out just about every part on my bike, then we headed up to NC to win the title of Most Bad Ass Mountain Biker in the World (MBAMBW)

Last weekend I went up to Ohio to race the Mohican 100. Sometime in the beginning of May I started thinking I might try to fit it in to the end of the month of Mayhem. Going to Ohio to do this race seemed like a giant hassle at first. But the singletrack and short steep climbs sounded appealing,

I was on the fence about riding Bump N Grind, but I kept hearing such good things about the trail and race. So, at the last minute, I decided to go with teammate Eric Nicoletti and his wife Anne. We ran into a few snags and 'in-garage mechanicals' that delayed our leaving Atlanta until about 4 PM on Saturday. I had never ridden the Oak Mountain trails where the race was taking place, but Nico had and he told there was nothing to worry about.

On Friday 5 members of FM: Race made it up to Wilkesboro North Carolina for the 9th annual Burn 24 Hour Race: Nico, doubleA, Kraut, X, and Ross-needsanickname-Martin, with Neal stepping in to coach. Every year this race is hosted on Army Corps of Engineer's land at the Dark Mountain trail system. Its a picturesque spot next to the W. Kerr Scott reservoir with a huge flat field for everyone to set up camp. Kurt drove up early for business in Charlotte so he got there first and claimed a premo spot for camp FM. DoubleA and I arrived next and soon we were settled for the night.

This weekend I went up to the Tsali Trails in NC to race at the 6/12 Hours of Tsali. These trails are mellow and plush, and I really enjoyed the SERC race I did here earlier this year. I was psyched for a much bigger second helping of Tsali.