FSC San Felasco

Four of us went down to the San Felasco State Park near Alachua Fl. for the 5th round of the Florida State Championship Series promoted by Gone Riding. Four of us finished the race. Four of us did not win any medals. In fact we kind of stunk it up. Oh, I was happy with my performance. I'm always ready to accept mediocrity when it comes to my racing but the other members of the group must have had higher expectations.

PP, PJ, B, and I drove down on Saturday for a couple of laps of practice. The weather couldn't have been better. The hilly section called Conquistador had been removed and more open field added. While this made the trail easier it also made it faster. When you got done it was like, yea, that was fun, but a little boring. The downhills in the woods got sketchy at race pace with all the roots but other than that it was easy. We went back home Saturday night.

Sunday was another perfect day. 45 degrees in the morning but warming up to the low 80's by the afternoon. B and PJ raced the white wave which went off at 9:30. As PP and I waited for them to make their first lap I could tell by B's position (near the back), and the expression on his face, that he wasn't having a good ride. He finished 6th out of 9. Seems his rear brake was dragging since right after the first downhill. We later found out he had not installed his rear wheel correctly. Ah the lessons we must learn.

PJ finished 10th out of 13. He rides faster than that when he rides with me. I think it has something to do with the camo kit.

PP and I raced at 11:30. I got off to a slow start, right behind SteveA. I thought if I could just keep him in sight for the first lap I had a chance to get into the top 5. He put a rider between us on the first climb in the fields, then on the downhill side he got by another one. I settled in behind a guy I raced against in the base class last year and just tried to get my heart rate down.

As soon as we got to the first single tract the lead group disappeared. I just wasn't ready to go that fast in the trees. Yes, I was chicken. So much for following SteveA. I have trouble when I get behind someone, I tend to tell myself that his pace is as fast as I can go. In other words I just get lazy. I followed this guy the whole first lap then dropped him after the finish line.

Midway through the second lap I caught a glimpse of an orange Niner ahead. This guy had finished ahead of me at Tallahassee. The chase was on. The chase didn't last long. I got on his wheel on one of the climbs, he turned around, saw my number, and dropped me. To add insult to it another rider in my class had been sneaking up on me while I had been sneaking up on Niner. He went past me and managed to put a couple of 40+ guys between us. Once again I followed them like a lost dog.

I rode most of the last lap all by myself. It's hard to push when no ones around. I finished 6th out of 9. SteveA got 3rd again. I'm really starting to hate that guy. On the bright side I felt good after the race.

PP came in after the finish with a scowl on her face. Seems she had picked up Spanish moss in her cassette, twice. Now what are the odds of that? 300 bikes rode over that trail before her and she finds the only two pieces of unattached moss? Really? Anyhoo she finished 5th out of 6. The "Moss Princess" has had this problem before. She could have easily gotten 4th if not for those evil trail gnomes that keep throwing stuff in her cassette.

Even with the poor results we had a good weekend. Super Cool bike shop fed us burgers and dogs both days. After riding, sitting in the shade, in the middle of that beautiful pasture, eating my burger, listening to the music, I realized just how damn good we've got it.

2.5 Pounds

Man, the weekend started out great As a matter of fact, the whole weekend turned out great. I got a good checkup from my doctor on Friday. I was feeling sooooo good I just had to go to Oscars (located in beautiful downtown Havana) and reward myself with a Paginolia (sp?) sandwich, with pasta salad, and pound cake for dessert. Of course I started it off with a couple of Rolling Rocks and added a Peroni with the meal just for good measure. I know that was a little bit much but I thought I'd burn it off the next day at the Dirty Spaghetti.

Saturday morning I had my usual pre race bagel, then nothing but gels and water until we finished the 62 mile ride. A couple of Rolling Rocks after the ride and I was very relaxed as we rolled down to the community center for the after ride meal of spaghetti. I piled the noodles on, dumped a shovel full of sauce, two pieces of bread, another beer from PJ, and the end piece of red velvet cake. You know, the one that has the icing on two sides. I don't know how you make a meal for 400 people and still get it that good.

I don't want to do a ride report. Suffice to say I had let my mouth get away from me earlier and had to eat a post ride meal of crow to go with my spaghetti, courtesy of BW. The after ride antics were worth all the pain though. It was pretty plain that we had more fun at our table than any body else.

Back at the house, after a little nap, I settled in for some college football. Of course I had to have some wings and onion rings to go along with the game. And damn if somebody didn't buy a bag of Reeses and leave them where I could see them in the fridge. I waddled off to bed.

Sunday morning I was sore but believe it or not still hungry. Coffee, juice, and a bacon bagel started it off. Then the same person that bought the Reeses baked some kind of a creamy cheesey pastry. I devoured three slices before we went for an easy ride with the crew. After the ride we did the mandatory lunch at Tropical Smoothie. Then grilled scallops for dinner. Oh yea, I left out the half bottle of wine I drank while cooking the scallops.

You see where this is going? You know where it ended up. Yea, 2.5 pounds up from Friday morning. I'm lucky it wasn't 5 pounds. If I hadn't burned those 4500 calories at the Spaghetti it would have been. I started cutting back Monday and managed to drop a half of a pound. That means by the weekend I just may be back to normal. But it's a lite riding week due to the FSC bike race next weekend in Gainesville. Plus it's raining Tuesday night so I'll miss my regular ride. That means two nights in the gym. You just can't burn much off in there. So before you know it it'll be Friday.

Just in time to start all over again. Ain't life grand?

The Mature Rider

That's what I ought to call the blog. I'd read blogs from other mature riders (if I could find some). I search magazines for articles on training and diet for older....., well what should I call us, older athletes just doesn't sound right. Older riders only covers some of us. How about active older people? Nah, that's really lame. Ok, how does mature active person sound (M. A. P.)? There are magazines dedicated to MAPs but I've found them to be uninteresting (Geezer Jock comes to mind). My regular cycling magazines have articles on diet and training but rarely focus on the MAP. Hey, we have special needs. Don't giggle.



Rarely do I see articles showing somebody who is older than 30 doing the prescribed exercise. I know most readers don't want to look at shriveled up old farts doing push ups but there is a segment of customers who would like to know that people over 45 can and should be doing this kind of stuff. I just finished reading about the Governor of New Mexico, he's 55 and just finished his third Iron Man. He's also an avid mountain biker having done the Leadville 100 this year and finished. Then there's Ned Overend who continues to trounce riders 20 years younger than him in the XC nationals. How do these guys prepare? What mistakes have they made?


Seriously, I think this is an overlooked demographic. We (MAPs) have a little more disposable income at this stage in our lives. For some the kids are out of the house so they have more time. Cycling is the perfect sport for MAPs. Once you get over the initial learning curve and build up some fitness you should be able to do it for years (at least I hope so).


Take the 50+ expert class in the Gone Riding races. Those guys have to be dedicated. I wonder what their training regime is. I'm pretty sure you don't train the same at 55 as you did at 25. I need to find a coach who specializes in MAP training. I wouldn't necessarily do what they said but it would be interesting to know what I was missing.


That's another question that often pops into my head. How much am I willing to give up to improve my riding? How about you? I could stand to lose 5 pounds. Should I give up beer? I already eat very few sweets but I love potato chips. Oh and fries. And Mexican food. Vodka, well of course. Nutter Butters, but they give those out at the Tour de Felasco so they must be ok. See what I mean? That's just the diet; how about the extra hours I should be on the bike? This doesn't even begin to cover my immense lack of skills. Would it all be worth it to have the chance to beat SteveA? Then, on the off chance I started getting on the podium, I would just get promoted to the expert class. That would mean another lap at the races.

Is it even possible to improve very much once you pass 50? Or am I just titling at windmills.

Oh the heck with this, I'm going to get another beer and watch Mad Men on the DVR.

Hell's Trails

The first lap is always scary. Steep drop offs, short runs to climbs with little lips at the top, and rocks every where. Hailes Trails outside of Gainesville is not my cup of tea. B loves this type of technical riding so we picked up PP and PJ on a cool (finally) breezy Saturday morning and headed South. You would have thought it was 30 below by the coat PJ had on. I mean really, this guy's from the great white North and he's wearing a parka suitable for snow.


As we turned in the gate to Hailes I could hear the roar of the moto tribe next door as they practiced on Gatorback. Just hearing it made me nervous. I had first ridden that track way back in 1974. Back then we turned in the gate in a green Ford van with green shag carpeting listening to Grand Funk "We're an American Band" on the 8 track. It's hard to believe that 37 years later I'm still torturing myself on these rocks.


Anyhoo, back in 2011, it was what you'd call a perfect day weather wise as we unloaded the bicycles. B and PJ took off in front of PP and I. I knew when PP unclipped and walked the first downhill we were in for a long lap. It went like that for the next 45 minutes. Either she walked a section or I did. On the next lap things went better. I got to see PJ do a little endo in a section I had been walking and I was able to clear most of the stuff I'd walked over the first lap. When we got back to the EZ-up some more of the Tallahassee crowd had arrived. Gone Riding had set up the sound system, the temperature was 70 degrees, someone popped open a beer, the songs were something I liked, so I just sat in my chair, and enjoyed the afternoon. I wish days like this would last just a little longer.


Sunday we met BW at the Lines Tract trails over on Lake Talquin for a spirited 18 mile ride. I keep saying this but it bears repeating. This is a fun trail system. Not to mention scenic. There's even a fish camp restaurant within riding distance right on the lake. TMBA camped here a couple of years ago and I suggest we do it again.



Fall is finally here. So many places to ride before the holidays get here and swallow up time. I have a friend that says the best time of the year is ruined by Thanksgiving and Christmas. I'm not quite that cynical (yet) but I'm getting closer.