Ohio Cycling Disorder (OCD)

Bills Bad Ass 50k , a local trail race, has been well known to dish out the pain not only because the route basically ebbs and flows in and out of a valley, but since it is held in Ohio and in November you can guarantee that the weather will dish out some of Mother Nature's finest work. She did not disappoint this year, the 10th and last time the race will be run, unfortunately. I knew full well it would be cold and wet when I woke up Saturday morning (11/10) but wasn't quite expecting to see a blanket of snow on the ground with the temperature hovering at 24*. Ooof ... hello Winter ... nice to see you took Fall out back and took it out of commision. So that's the way it's gonna be, eh? Well, screw you and the sleigh you slide in on! Woke u early, thru some grub down the hatch, jumped in the care and quite literally slide my way to packet pickup. One nice thing about this being a local race is that my drive time is all of about 10-minutes. Grabbed my bib + shirt an...

Start/Finish line was on point! I have raced several 6-hour lap races in the past but never a duo race where you team up with a fellow MTBer and swap laps. My good friend, training partner, and Rescue Racing teammate called me out to see if I was at all interested in racing the Twain Reign of Pain Duo 6.5 hour race with him. It took me a good amount to deep thought to finally decide that I was willing to race with him. All 6-hour races are hard, but the difference maker in a Duo format race, and at least in my humble opinion, is the downtime when you are not shredding singletrack but waiting for your partner to finish their lap. That downtime is my biggest concern and as I heard and chatted with other racers is definitely one of the top 3 concerns that racers are lamenting over. Do you sit? Do spin? When do you warm your legs up again all while not overdoing it and no missing your teammate hit the finish line when you had better be ready to tag and GO! Being inquisitive an...

Back at it again. One might start to think that I enjoy Trail Running more than Mountain Biking. Truth be told I enjoy them in equal amounts because they each bring their own unique challenges and frankly any activity that puts me outside, enjoying nature, getting dirty, getting gnarly, and cranks up the HR ... heck yay baby! Bring it!! If you read my last race report (if ya didn't no worries ... I still love ya), then you know this is my fifth Ultra Marathon in one year's time. The Buckeye Trail 50k is also the first Ultra Marathon I had ever run, so of course, there was motivation to do well, go faster, go harder, and hey ... maybe do better. The first goal for me is ALWAYS to finish safely and come home to my family. I can't say that often enough because it is ABSOLUTELY TRUE! Of course, who doesn't like PRing the crap out of any event they race and just maybe bringing home a bit'O hardware! Heading into the Taper weeks ... man I hate taper weeks becau...

28th edition - I raced the 50-mile race                                                                 I really love to trail run, there is just something so peaceful about it. Me. The Trail. The sound of my heartbeat. No mechanical bits making noise. No tires spewing sealant when a tire blows off the rim or punctures. Throw on a pair of shoes, grab a bottle of water if the run is long and head out the door. Just simple, clean, quiet, trail running. Me and the natural beauty that God created. So, if you asked me two years ago if I would ever race a 50k Trail Run, I would have laughed ... non-stop, for a long time. If you asked me if I would ever race a 50 Mile Trail Run, my response ... well ... it wouldn't be appropriate to write that in a public blog post but to put it bluntly ... NO WAY!! If you follow me on Fa...