Beefcakes Bike Blog

Trans-Sylvania Epic 2014 - Day 2

Bad. Long. Hot. Never under estimate the difficulty of 40 miles of Pennsylvania rocks, hills and more rocks. We have rocks in Western North Carolina but they are typically small and usually move. In PA they are big and reach up from the earth to grab tires as you roll by. Upon completion of day one i knew that a podium spot in my age group was very unlikely. I knew that coming into this race. The Enduro aspect is still in my sights. Unfortunately there is only one winner in the Enduro category and it's winner take all. No second place losers. Long story short, I bonked around 25 miles in, went through two 3 liter camelbaks, 2 water bottles, 2 flat tires and 2 naps trail side. Distinction between reality and la la land was a fine line of which i was straddling over. A kind biker and two young riders stopped to ask if i was ok and if i needed help. All i could say was nothing at all. Then finally i lied and said i was ok. She read my answer and pressed on with questions which evidently pulled me back from the la la land side of things. I remembered my name, which a few moments prior i could not, and decided that i had to get out to the next check point and call it a day. Finally, after what seemed like the longest walk of my life i came to the last downhill and rolled into the check point, 30 minutes past the cut off. The race director knew i was toast and complimented me on my arrival. Ego hurt. Legs hurt. Feelings hurt. Brain hurt. Hands hurt. Everything hurt. I climbed into the sag vehicle with sad bike strapped on the back and got a king of the mountain segment on Hwy. 322. Somehow me and my bike averaged 57.x miles per hour up a 4 mile climb. I just wish i would have been on it.

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Alley oop oop. Oop. Oop. Oop!

July 3, 2011 - First Annual (hopefuly) Brevard, NC Alley Cat Race. What a blast! Thirty some odd people (i use odd loosely) including kids, adults, adults who are still kids and in-betweens. This was my first participation in an Alley Cat Race. Typical alley cat format is basically no format at all. This race consisted of 10 or so check points, each worth a certain amount of points based upon their distance from the starting point. Also in the mix were a number of local landmarks, people and combinations of both that were each worth an additional 3 points each. Who ever has the most points and returns to the designated finishing area by the cut-off time wins. My buddy and official H8R, aka ZB, decided he just wanted to follow me for the race since he doesn't know Brevard all that well. Together we sped through Brevard and its outskirts, collected pictures, signed sign in sheets, danced, busted some rhymes, begged, consumed liquid refreshment, obeyed all and any traffic laws, improv...

A day in PA

“Where’s this David Cook guy?” ripped me out of a semi relaxed state of welcomed non-stimulus after 101 miles of rushing thoughts, focus, attentiveness and sweat. I was sitting on the grass, cross legged, eyes closed, with my back against the blow up Kenda banner at the race finish. Apparently another Clydesdale racer didn’t like seeing his name in second place on the results page because he was questioning the race director for David Cook and a scale. Much to this fellows surprise, “he’s right here” directed at him from my mouth with the same tone he addressed the race director, seemed to stop him in his tracks. I guess he heard me, but assumed someone would present them self to him. I didn’t. I knew what he wanted…my digits on a scale. The race director, went for the scale with said questioning racer in tow. The racer came back to where he heard me announce my presence from the comfort of my make shift Kenda pillow and was looking around. I looked up at him and said “I’...

Snake Creek Gap time trial #2

Snake Gap Creek time trial – race 2, Feb. 5, 2011 First race of the season, and I hurt. It’s been a long comfortatble winter……on the sofa. “On the sofa” can be used like “between the sheets” in fortune cookie lingo but it’s not a good phrase to describe your fitness. This race made me feel as if I were “just off the sofa”. At least I’m headed in the right direction. Snake Gap Creek is run on the PInhoti trail in Northwest Georgia. Being from GA I’ve ridden most of the trails, but not the Pinhoti. It opened up after I fled for WNC (Western North Carolina) in 2004. The route was a 34 mile point to point race with about 4,000 feet of climbing, per some unknown rider on the bus who seemed to know what he was talking about with exception of the rocky section of trail near races end. As a self designated “seasoned racer” I leave my mind open to all trail suggestions, hints, pointers, etc. however, I put those pointers in the back of my head until I get to the spot referenced then I make my ...