Race Day...continued

One of my peers told me, if nothing else, I had to visit a place called Meers while I was in Lawton. So after our practice ride, we decided to go find this place. A couple of guys that worked at the hotel knew where the place was.

"Just go this way for 13 miles. You can't miss it!" one of the guys told us.

Another guy piped in with a thick Okie from Muskogee drawl, "They have boogers as big as my head...and I have a BIG head!"

Ok we were sold. Did you know a GPS does not do you any good if you can not spell the name of the place you want to go...Mirrors, nothing...Miers, nothing....Meirs, nothing. Good thing we had a 3G signal and an IPhone...Google----> Lawton, OK best burgers in the world http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=lawton%2C+ok+best+burgers+in+the+world&aq=f&oq=

This place is in the middle of nowhere, with dilapidated buildings all around you, but you know what? These are the best F'ing burgers in the world, no kidding.

This place was amazing, they made their own unfiltered wheat beer, homemade ice cream and a burger...you guessed it, the size of my head...and I have a big head!!!

The race was a blast. It was only half the distance as advertised, but I got to see some pretty wild things along the way. First off all 200+ riders were gathered for a mass start. As people fought to get to the group that was riding their speed, the first climb began. In true Heavy D fashion, I stuck to the back tire of the girl that was in front of me and started climbing. At one point, my back wheel kicked out on some loose rock and I took a rider out behind me (Sorry Cole) but I stayed up and kept pedaling. We went down a short hill and then started the mother of all climbs. My goal was to get half way up it, maybe even three quarters if I felt sassy. I fell way short when the girl I was behind wiped out and I had to stop. The hill was so steep, I could not get back on and pedal, so I walked and walked and walked.

Once at the top, there was a a fast downhill with several little drops. I let her all out and was flying, when I saw a downed rider, dammit another girl was ahead of me!!! She was lying in the middle of the trail on her back and looking dazed. Her bike was another 10 feet down the hill, so I knew she had fell hard. That was the least of her worries as about 150 people were cresting the hill and plowing towards her. I managed to veer left and get around her and a did not dare to look back as I had a feeling it would get ugly.

I saw several riders frantically fixing flats as I trudged on, concentrating on breathing as I tried to find a rhythm. Riders ahead of me kept jumping off their bikers to get through tough technical parts, creating a log jam. I just passed who I could and kept aiming for the next rear tire and hanging on until I could pass again.

I was following a rider that was pulling me along just outside my own comfort level. This was good as I knew it was a short race and I was going to have to suffer if I wanted to make a good showing. After about 10 minutes we began another short climb and all of a sudden the guy in front of me pedaled his crank right off the bottom bracket. It was still clipped into his shoe, just dangling there. I heard him say WTF as I passed him.

Most of the racers were really courteous and encouraged you to push harder as you passed them. I wound up falling behind 2 numb nuts who could not climb, but would not let me pass, forcing me off my bike. It took a bit of time to get around them as we were on a very technical part of the trial. I had to bomb down a hill just outside my ability to really control what was happening just to get around them. I looked down and my knuckles were white from the death grip I had on the handle bars. I told myself to relax and find a good pace just short of death the rest of the way in.

At one point I heard a couple kids sitting on a rock yell, your number 67 keeping going!. That is just what I did. As I came down the last hill back to the 1/4 mile stretch of pavement to the finish line, I set my sites on a rider about 300 yards ahead of me and hammered on the pedals. I did not catch him, but ended up only 2 seconds behind him.

I did not realize it until after they overall was posted, but there was a rider on my six trying to take me at the same time. He finished 1 second behind me.

I ended up taking 57th overall, getting beat by a girl by several minutes and loving every second of it. We met some guys from Tulsa that rode the whole thing on single speeds and finished 23rd to 29th ahead of us. Pretty amazing!!!

The Tulsa Boys

Cole Jason and I

Oh, I finished 14th in my class. I have room to improve:)

Race Day

Well the Hills of Hell cometh and goeth, but the memories will remain. Cole, Jason and I met early Saturday morning and drove to Lawton, OK.



Seeing the mountains in the distance always makes me feel like I am entering a different world. You have to remember I am born and raised in Kansas, so seeing anything but a flat piece of farmland is exciting.

We went for a pre-ride to scope out the track. On the first climb, Cole and I realized we needed more meat on our tires. The Larson TT's we were running could not bite the loose rocky soil on the steep climb. We dealt with it, but knew we had to make some changes once we got back to the hotel.

The ride was pretty awesome. we were surrounded by granite rock and in typical Heavy D fashioin I excuted yet another flawless turtle back maneuver. Jason had not had an opportunity see it up close and personal. I think he was impressed.

If you do not know what that is, I do not blame you. It is my signature move to protect my bike when I crash... Here is an example.

Well we followed the orange arrows for the most part which mapped out the race course. We took a power bar break at the top to enjoy the scenery or was it really to catch our breath?

Here is Cole and Jason with their bikes. Is Jason making a statement with his larger wheels?

We continued on the course, climbing and decending, working through some pretty technical terrain. There is always that perfect balance between hard and too hard. Most of the course was challenging, but some of it we found just not rideable. I am sure that speaks of our lack of skill, but hey we are just weekend warriors anyways.

more to come tomorrow....

Good from Bad

There is not much to look forward to when your job asks you to go review 30,000 plus letters. But I am telling you, it could have been worse.

Every now and again you get lucky to run across a person who is exceptional in more than one way and you are lucky to call them a friend.

It is almost unheard of running across a group of people that have that kind of an impact on your life, but I was lucky enough experience it.

Here is to my new found friends...I wish you well and stay in touch!!! Letters suck, but you don't!!!!