2012 Chainbuster Granite Grinder Mountain Bike Race

The Georgia International Horse Park is a favorite venue for all kinds of great events. Fortunately for me both of my favorite series have events there, Chainbuster Racing and Dirty Spokes. This weekend they were both out there putting on separate events. Dirty Spokes Productions is run by a great guy named Tim who did a trail run at 8AM. Then Kenny and his Chainbuster Racing series put on a mountain bike race that was a classic.

Racers prepare for a great day of racing.

On the way there I drove through some rain and starting thinking about whether I had the right stuff for racing in it. But that wouldn't matter because we didn't get a drop all day. The course was packed and fast but that wouldn't matter either because it was tough. Lots of rooty climbs and some nasty soup mud. And then the heat took everyone by surprise. It was 85 degrees and humid.

Bill Mashburn get ready for the 6 Hour Solo Beginner Race

After the kids race I began my pre-race routine. A warm up on the first two or three miles of the race course and a last "nature" break before the gun went off. By then my team mates had arrived. David Shabat and Clint Sanders agreed to have some fun and do the 3 Person 6 Hr Race with me. The course would be 8 miles of single track pain.

 We started in the middle of a field in the grand tradition of mass chaos. The usual suspects were there including Wild Bill Lanzillota who has shaved since last year. That fact alone kept him from being recognized right away in conversations at the starting line. Down the hill to my left were team mates Rob Butler and Dustin Mealor (2 Person Male Category). And behind them was Bill Mashburn (Solo 6 Hr Beginner Category). Rob is young, lite and strong. He'll prove it during this race.

The start was a perfect example of why it's important to pre-ride the first few miles. And it's the reason I always get with Kenny on how the start will be. The trick about the start was that it drops you onto a gravel road that you can't see from up on the field. What happens is the start is so wide with riders and when they top the hill and see where they have to squeeze into it becomes a problem for those on the outskirts as they try to figure out what to do. Unfortunately for Bill a rider lost his mind and plowed into him from the side. He consequently started his race in last place. You can see the aftermath in the video.

Clint Sanders

I however was very fortunate to get with the lead group of riders and entered the trail without stopping. I was blissfully unaware of the bottle neck that occurred behind us. The first few miles of climbing really busted the lungs after that start but it didn't seem to effect Rob. He took the opportunity to pass us all and lead the group over the top. He was killing it!

Rob did the courses first lap in 30 minutes and 9 seconds. That's after making a wrong turn in the parking lot and having to cross back over a ditch to get back on course. My first lap took more than 60 seconds longer. I handed the timing chip off to my good friend David and he blasted off. I started telling Clint about the courses climbs and pitfalls. He looked...unsure. He doesn't ride single track and would be riding his new Cannondale Flash 29er Hardtail for the first time in competition. I was excited for him.

Because I wanted to take pictures I wasn't much help during their exchange. David traded the chip and gave Clint a push. Now we're having fun!

During all of this Bill Mashburn was putting forth a great solo effort and we did our best to support him. His knee was bloody and he was dehydrating but kept plugging away.

Since the laps were only taking less than 40 minutes we rotated really quickly. Once we looked at the standings we knew our efforts were paying off because we had a sizable lead. But I could tell the heat would start taking a toll if I didn't keep the fluid and Hammer Enduralytes coming. And the box of Honey Stinger Waffles from Sanders Drugs helped too. I love these races. They test you in so many ways. Just ask Dustin Mealor...

The Crash Master, Dustin Mealor

Dustin flipped into a pool of soup mud and horse poop. Well...it smelled like it anyway. And that started his pain filled trip into crampville. He sat in my chair and when he got up it was soaked with sewage sweat. But he still had some humor left in him as you can see.

David Shabat rubbing out cramps...and smiling.

David was too happy. He's always too happy. I can't understand how he can trash himself and still remain so... happy. I like David.
Because of our great spot at the finish line we randomly picked people to cheer for when they came through. I had the cow bell for full effect.

In case your wondering about my shoes...it was St. Patrick's Day! Lisa bought me some green duct tape. She loves me that much. We also taped up our helmets but that wasn't as cool looking.

Bill Mashburn finishes 7th 6Hr Solo Beginner

I'm most impressed with Bill's finishing 7th out of 34 racers after such a crappy start. What a great performance. David's last lap featured a splash of horse poop mud in the eye. After getting Clint on course he quickly flushed it with water. As we sat around debating the medical complications of this, Dustin delivered his expert opinion..."you're going to get the flesh eating disease".     Nice.

Rob Butler brings it home.

With our race well in hand (we were leading by 15 minutes) we focused our attention on the heated competition in the 2 Person Male Category. Dustin and Rob had been in 1st all day but Dustin's misfortunes and cramping gave the lead to the Gault Innovations Team of Shu Elam and Brent Clymer. And Rob was going to have to do the last two laps. When he came through after his first one he was only behind by about 40 seconds. But the other team had changed riders. They had fresh legs. We didn't give him much chance but Dustin tried to encourage him by letting him know how close he was.
As the time came close Dustin and I stood at the finish line watching to see how it would unfold. Riders came flying out of the woods and down by the fence. We examined each one to see if we could tell who it was. Then Rob came tearing out onto the field. We started screaming and yelling at him. The other rider was nowhere. He was going to win it for them! As he rounded the last corner and ran through the finish line he looked exhausted. He was done. But what a great finish!

Taking in some well deserved oxygen.

It turns out that their competition broke his chain. An unfortunate happening that is as they say "racing". Rob experienced this very thing in a race called Tumbling Creek last year. The guy still managed to finish within less than 7 minutes of Rob's time. A great effort also. Congrats to them for a great race!

Rob Butler and Dustin Mealor, 2 Person Male 6 Hr

Clint Sanders, Chad Hayes, David Shabat - 3 Person 6 Hr Podium

So we had a blast. As usual. And to celebrate we went to Cracker Barrel and had breakfast! Oh yeah! When I finally made it back home, there's no easy way from Conyers, I found my beautiful wife cutting grass. Can you believe that! It's a spoiled life I lead. The Pattillo's were hanging out with us and we just took it easy the rest of the day. After a great morning at church on Sunday we enjoyed the sun and some burgers with friends including the Pattillo's (of course) and the Peck's. Good Times!!

Star Bridges and Robert Loomis raced in the Upstate Cycling Classic this weekend in South Carolina. Star was kind enough to share the tale of Woe with me...and now you. Enjoy!

This past weekend myself and young Robert Loomis went to contest the Upstate Cycling Classic in Pendleton, SC.  Pendleton is a sleeping little hamlet right next to Clemson University, but you'd never know it.  It looked like any other small, old southern downtown district with a few blocks and a even fewer red brick commercial buildings.  It was complete with a square that was home to confederate war memorials.  Just like any other town around here.

START

Saturday was the Road Race which took place on a 11-mile loop from the start/finish in downtown to way out in the countryside.  Rolling to flat is what I'd call it.  There were 2-3 good size hills that burned the legs and made some selection in the race.  Robert and I entered the Cat 4 race with @ 30 other participants.  Every thing held together until the 3rd of 4 laps.  Four strong riders got away and were quickly advancing their gap.  I read this to be the winning move and quickly got Robert on my wheel near the back of the pack, on the yellow line.  I signaled him with my hand covertly to be ready and after a few seconds, the left side opened up.  I jumped with Robert on my wheel and buried it to try and get him across to the Break.  I only made it 1/3 the way and pulled off, shouting encouragement to him to "GET ACROSS!"  Robert nearly made it but fell back after burning out.  He was excited and determined now that he realized the danger in letting the break get away so only after a moments rest at the front of the peloton, Robert jumped again hard as we crossed a bridge at the bottom of a hill, going probably 40mph.  Then the catastrophe happened.  Robert had received from my secret Chinese supplier a new set of 50mm carbon tubular wheels just that very morning.  I had glued the tires for him two days earlier but we threw on his new wheels without properly testing the gearing alignment.  The result:   Just as Robert stood up at 40mph to launch himself across to the Break....his chain slipped.  Robert was throwing everything he had into the pedal-stroke and it slipped...BAD.  From my view at the back of the peloton, I saw Robert stand, take 2-3 quick hard strokes, then he went over the handlebars.  I will never forget the look of surprise on his face, upside-down, in FRONT of his front tire looking back at me. Catastrophic is how I would describe it.  Robert tumbled and several riders directly behind him went down without a chance to avoid him.  I went left and saw as I past the carnage, Robert quickly leaping to his feet and reaching to untangle his bike.  I continued on with the diminished pack for about two minutes but couldn't really see the reason for finishing the final lap.  I kept thinking of Robert's girlfriend, Amber who would be very distraught seeing only me come through the start/finish on the last lap.  The money was up the road, as they say, so I slowed and turned back to check on Robert.  I found him on the side of the road with a few other unfortunates, bleeding but more concerned about his bike than anything else.  His rear derailleur was trashed, the handlebars crooked but otherwise it looked okay.  There was some cracked paint on the top-tube but I didn't pay much attention to it due to it had nothing to do with the functionality of the machine.  I straightened (read, bent) the twisted components and got him riding again.  His knees were bloodied with Road Rash but otherwise he was okay.  Young people tend to bounce well.

We got back to the start and as predicted, Robert's girl didn't handle it well.  Bless her heart.  She really loves that boy.  Robert finally convinced her he didn't need a Medivac helicopter and we all walked back to the van.  I cleaned him up some with what first-aid I had but the guy had nothing but optimism about the whole thing.  The bike was his main concern.  The derailleur was gone but the new wheels took it well and only the front needed truing.  Later he reported that Nathan O'Neal at Baxter's took a look at the frame closely and pronounced it cracked.  BUMMER.  Cervelo has a replacement policy but it can take up to 4 months to get a frame back.  Nathan though lent him an old Cannondale Supersix of his to keep riding.  What a Guy!  The report I got from Robert this evening (Tuesday) was that his knees are healing nicely and Amber has agreed to allow him to race again one day.  Yay!

Sunday saw me solo in Pendleton lining up for the 45+ Masters Criterium.  I should have known it was a bad idea when the guy who just won the 35+ race, comes back to the line to race again.  Oh Boy.  Then I see there's this guy in a team kit with little American flags ringing each sleeve at the bottom.  George Hincapie has these on his jersey.  They show that the individual was a previous NATIONAL CHAMPION in some cycling discipline.  Great.  As I expected, these two guys put on a clinic.  They jousted back and forth for the 45 minutes we raced as the other 15-20 of us desperately tried to hold on.  I'm surprised they never got away.  They probably didn't really try to.  Turn 3 had a man hole cover 2 feet off the curb and was the fastest corner by far.  You had to thread the needle every lap between the curb and the cover.  It was unnerving.  Surprisingly nobody crashed in that corner.  The National Champ and the Old Pro went 1-2 (no surprise) and I held in for 7th.  I had nothing left at the end.

That's the story.  Robert has immense potential and incredible enthusiasm.  He's just had some bad luck lately and I bet he'll be killing it later this Spring.  He might be our Guy for the State Champ Crit.  With a leadout he could be unbeatable.

Star

Thanks for reading! Enjoy the pollen!

Chad Hayes

A Brutal Surprise at Oak Park, AL

So here's the thing about mountain bike racing in a place you've never been. It's nerve wracking. But just like anything in life there's pressure put on you and pressure you put on yourself. I tend to put pressure on myself and probably always will until I'm just too old to have a chance at winning. And on top of that I choose really fast team mates who put additional pressure on me. What am I thinking!

Race#1 Heritage Park in February 2011

Here's what I was thinking at the beginning of the year about the Chainbuster 6hr Mountain Bike Race Series; Have fun, be competitive, don't make racing an endurance mtb race a new miserable experience. The best way to do all of those things was to NOT RACE SOLO! I did it the year before and was miserable (which obviously breaks rule number three). So this year it was important to find a team mate who shared my vision of how to race a mountain bike. David Shabat was willing and very excited. All year we've raced together. He trained hard and got better as the year went on. I'm really proud of what he accomplished this year as far as mountain bike skills go. We managed several podium places and scored enough points during the season to take 1st Place for the entire 6 race series. That's something neither of us thought was possible back in February when we started. To be completely honest the door was opened for our overall victory by two things; the rules and the absence. Let's start with the latter of the two.
All year long we've been chasing the "Gutbusters" Bill Lanzilotta and Alex Hagiano, and Team "Engine" Matt Hammond and Dave Chen. We've never beaten them. They are faster than we are and it's a fact. When they showed up we knew we were in for a long hard day. We might be ahead one hour and behind the next. The key to winning the overall as it turns out has a lot to do with showing up. Dave and Matt missed a race earlier in the year and the Gutbuster's didn't come to the last race in Alabama (a double points race). This becomes important later on in the story.

The rules. Let me see if I can sum it up for you. The key sentence in the rules is: At the end of the series if you have raced a minimum of 5 out of 6 races to qualify for the series we will then drop your worst scored race. The key point here is that the dropping of the worst score is mandatory. A team cannot decide to keep that lowest score. So I'll just let you do the math and look at the results. I say all this not because I think we shouldn't have won the overall. We earned it. We worked our tails off all year. But I have to recognize the fact that those guys ride like lightning. And it paid off with 1st place finishes in several races including Matt and Dave taking the top spot in our final race. However, they didn't show up at Tribble Mill and then had to drop their lowest finish. Hence we win by being the most consistent for 6 races. And the Gutbuster's? They just flat blew it by not showing up at the last "double points" race. So, the reality is that we are not the fastest riders...just the most consistent. Which according to Chainbuster Racing is exactly what the points system is designed to do. Reward the most consistent team or solo riders.

Oak Mountain State Park, Pelham Alabama

The Course

I was prepared for bitter cold that did not happen. When David and I arrived at the park we thought it would be much colder than it was. No wind. No frost. The sun was coming up bright in the sky. It was 39 degrees but warming up quickly. Soon after we set up camp there came the arrival or our friends Dustin Mealor, Trent Smith, and Todd Fisher (Team Spare Parts) and family. These guys were ready to have some fun. Having them there was a great relief. We were in enemy territory and needed some friends.

Team Spare Parts encampment.

I got ready and went out to scout the first few miles of the course. This ended up doing me absolutely no good for two reasons: 1. The start was a 1.5 mile parade lap on paved roads that basically cut off half the section I scouted. 2. The most difficult part of the trail was on the back side of the course about 4 miles in.
You can see in the 2nd video that I went out way too hard. I pulled the lead group up the road and then promptly found a place to crash! This gave me an idea. Slow down a little bit since you don't know the course. Duh!
I tried to chill out and ramp back up slowly. During that process Dustin caught me. He drilled it to catch up with the lead group and soon went on by me. I stayed with him until the time came to not stay with him. That time would be when the trail became something more like a moon crater. Or maybe the "lake" side of a dam. You know the rocks they use to keep the waves from eroding. That's what we rode across for half a mile.

One of many. But not my knee.

Up and down. Around the trees. Every turn was an "endoh" waiting to happen. There were people camped out up there. Waiting to see the carnage. Oh sure they rang cow bells and cheered for you when you made it down the drop offs without losing teeth. They stood ready to help in case you need life flight. But let's be honest. They were NASCAR fans. They were there to see the crashes. Only this part of the trail was a guaranteed crash fest. They didn't need to hope. They just needed to be patient.

Rollers are fun.

And so...I gave them what they wanted. I only crashed 4 times during the race. The first three on the first lap. Twice I washed out in the loose corners. But twice I found the rocky surface of this section too hard to navigate. It hurt my feelings and made me want to curse Alabama. If you can believe it I managed to catch Dustin after that and started talking myself into being happy. I noticed he had his cool video camera on the back of his bike and now I was the star. We were killing it over some big rollers and I just knew I was looking super cool in the video. Right up until I washed out in a corner and slid off the mountain. Nice.
The first lap was over and now I had to deal with the fact that the race wasn't. The course was in a word "brutal".  My mind was swirling with doubt. My legs hurt. I kept drinking and eating. By the time David made it back I was ready to take on Oak Mountain without incident. I wanted to disappoint the NASCAR fans. I wanted some revenge.

After that successful lap I felt much better about the race. I took time while David was on course to look at where we stood. At that time we were in second. I was very surprised. The course was so bad I just knew we were behind a lot of locals who knew how to navigate the bad sections. But there we were, in the mix. As I stood and waited for David to come in Dave Chen (Team Engine) rode in and couldn't find his team mate. He had to go out again for two in a row. I didn't realize this until I caught Dave on the trail. He was suffering but working hard. I passed him on the climb and then managed to complete the rocky section without a problem. Once on the rollers and heading back to the start it started to sink in that we were in the lead. I handed of to David but he had a big problem, a well rested Matt Hammond took over for Team Engine and was flying after him. Matt not only passed my team mate somewhere during that lap but pulled a double. He did two laps and got the second one in with only 4 seconds of time left in the race. Very cool. I told you those guys were fast. Great job Matt!

Oak Mt. Podium

By the time the Series Podium happened it was too dark to take pictures of it. I've got some great audio though with a black picture. If anyone out there has a picture I'd love to get one.

Team Spare Parts fought valiantly and settled for 4th Place by a mere 50 seconds. They were not happy but had a great time none the less. Great job guys!

Todd, Trent, Me

David and I finished up an unbelievable year in great fashion. We celebrated by eating at Cracker Barrel. That's right, Cracker Barrel. I had Mamma's Pancake Breakfast with bacon and extra syrup. David had French Toast. We both drank caffeinated coffee and took a to-go cup for the road. 4 hours to get home. 5 for David.

Another good thing about being in Alabama this weekend was the look on all the Auburn fans faces as the afternoon wore on. We had a radio and listened to the Georgia Bulldogs whoop up on the War Eagles...I meant Tigers. Sorry. It was great to be a Georgia Bulldog!


This coming Saturday I'll be racing the Currahee Adventure Duathlon with David and Craig Tinsley. That should be a great story. Last year I competed with Craig and a team mate at the last minute, David Park. We raced for 5 hours and it came down to the last 3 miles. That's a story for another day but if you ask Craig to tell you about the finish make sure you have some time to kill. It was epic!

Craig Tinsley, Me, David Park at 2010 Currahee Duathlon

Thanks for reading! See you all out there soon!

Chad