2013 Dirty Spokes Duathlon Fort Yargo

This Saturday I raced with my friend Kelley Edwards in the 2 Person Male Category at the Dirty Spokes Fort Yargo Duathlon. He is not a pure runner. In fact he's a Crossfit freak. Which doesn't lend itself to running at all. At least not running fast. But in spite of that he ran like the wind and we finished well.

We arrived in time to set up by the lake in the sunshine. It was 35 degrees but warming up quickly. I knew that Molly would overdress so I had her put a wind proof jacket on and Lisa forced her to go jog. At the starting line Lisa took the jacket. Molly said after the first mile she forgot about the cold.

My good friend Kelley Edwards was my partner for the 2 Person Male Category. He did the running and I did the mountain biking. As everyone lined up for the start they were clowning around. If you look carefully at the first picture, the one before the start, you will see that Molly is towering above everyone else. That's because Kelley put her on his shoulders as if he was going to run with her there. I tell you what... the Dirty Spokes races are great fun!

After they ran into the woods I began my warm up which usually consists of riding the first 2 miles of the course. There were no other riders out there and I felt calm in the peaceful forest of Fort Yargo. I'm very familiar with the trails there and with the effort I was about to give. As I made my way back I noticed the solo leader had already made it back from his run and was on the bike. I went straight to the finish and waited for my team mate.
Kelley ran up and attached the timing chip and off I went.

The 11 mile loop was longer than I expected. I kept a good pace and pushed myself on the climbs. It took longer in the first half of the loop because of a lot of lap traffic I had to kindly and safely pass. Once I got through the bulk of those riders I got into a nice hard rhythm. Since this race was only about an hour I kept my rear shock locked out (Pro Pedal ON) and locked the front shock about half way. My American Classic Tubeless wheels were set at 30 pounds of pressure. It was a really good setup.

At the finish I could tell that Kelley was jacked up on caffeine and ready to blister his final run. And he did. His final run kept us in third place. But he didn't know it. In fact we didn't know where we finished until they called our names at the awards.

Mean while Molly had finished her run and was on the bike. I prepared her Camelbak beforehand with her favorite blue Poweraide and her smart phone. With her phone in there Lisa and I could track her because we've installed the Parental Control Board on it. It's a great app that allows you to pinpoint where the phone is. It also alerts you if the phone leaves a certain zone that you set, like a 200 yard radius around her school. You can also control and/or block anything about the phone along with seeing who is calling or texting. Some people seem to use it for a more insidious reason like tracking wayward girl or boyfriends. But we just track Molly. Like good parents should.

Kelley Edwards lays it all out on his final run.

So I whipped out my phone and after celebrating with Kelley at the finish I headed out to find my daughter and encourage her. I estimated where she would be and waited at the top of a climb. I rode with her for a while and then took a shortcut back to the finish.

Molly only did the Novice Solo which is a 3.8 mile run and then the 11 mile mountain bike but for a skinny little 13 year old it was a lot. She trained for it and did really well by finishing 1st in her age group. My youngest Ellie was there cheering. They really support each other well. Ellie is big into Karate and had her first sparring meet a few weeks ago. She's really good even though fighting is not her nature, defending is and it helps her sparring.
We all watched Molly finish and celebrated with Cliff Bars and banana's. There were doughnuts too. And cookies.
And then we waited... 

Molly Hayes, 1st Place in her age group (Under 30)

Chad and Kelley, 3rd Place 2 Person Male

Happiness and joy is how I would describe the scene after our names were called. Especially from Kelley who before the awards was apologizing to me for his bad performance. He was so jacked up he started trying to figure out how to do the next one with me at Heritage Park.

Big Congrats to all the winners on the day! We were definitely not the only ones having a blast. Tim and his family put on top notch events that we're happy to be a part of.

Next up for Molly is the Dirty Spokes trail run at Gainesville College. I'm heading to Conyers for the Chainbuster Green Gobler race.  Kelley is going to be running like a mad man from now until Heritage.
Some of us have the crazy idea of doing a 5 Man team at the 12 Hour Zombie Race if anyone is interested??

Cycling NEWS!

Newly formed team announcement! Prima Tappa Cycling Club of North Georgia presents:

SkyBlu Smart Fuels, a division of Mansfield Energy Group, has decided to be the main sponsor of our club and racing team for the year.  Their logo will be prominently displayed on our 2013 kits.  Thank you to Mr. Michael Mansfield, Mr. Jack Haire and to Prima Tappa Club members who worked behind the scenes on to bring this partnership to fruition.

Full 2013 Sponsor List:

A+ Garbage Service             Thank you Larry Waters!
Berry Motorsports                Thank you Todd Berry!

EuroTruck Importers             Thank you Sean Philyaw!

Hayes Automotive Group      Thank you Chad Hayes!

Heard's Dirt Works               Thank you Larry Waters!

Kali Protectives                    Thank you Joey Brown!

Kathy Anderson Trucking      Thank you Larry Waters!

Landmark Logistics              Thank you Ray Mullins!
Longstreet Clinic                  Thank you Holmes Marchman!

SkyBlu Smart Fuels              Thank you Jack Haire!

Wayne Farms LLC                Thank you Aaron Leach!

Wells Fargo Advisors            Thank you John Lilly!

Wrenched                            Thank you Nathan O'Neill!

Our 2013 kits have been finalized!  ETA is the 2nd or 3rd week of April.  The complete kit price is $95.  $58 for the bibs and $37 for the jersey.  We will be contacting you shortly before they arrive to begin collecting payment.  I think that paypal.com may be the easiest way to go, but of course we will take cash and checks.

The new kit design has been posted on Facebook and please like us while you are there.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Prima-Tappa-Cycling/151461601680800

We are looking for volunteers to take on various tasks within the club, so if you are good at something like Facebook, blogging, helping create club structure / rules, etc., please let me know.

This new club and team have several things in the works. A Junior Team coached by Nathan O'Neal. A competitive cycling/mountain biking team and a club team of recreational riders who love the sport of cycling and love to ride in North Georgia. For more information you can contact Sean Philyaw at primatappacycling@gmail.com

Have a great weekend!

Chad Hayes