I’ve done a horrible job keeping this updated.

2020 has not gone the way anyone has thought it would. When I made the last post in the end of February, the world was still kind of normal. Lots of things have happened, but I haven’t written about them.

Couple of buds did the Morrow Gravel look. I took my 28mm road bike and loved it.

BWR was still scheduled for May, so I was still getting after it, trying to be fit AF for that thing. Did a lot of adventures on some different paths to get ready for that.

Dat early morning sunrise was awesome all winter/early spring.

Was spending more and more time on my Gravel/CX bike with 32mm slicks.

I convinced David to ride his bike with 32mm slicks on mountain bike trails, more than once.

Made for some weird looking loops, but he was up for an adventure.

Some early AM Uwharrie trips were on tap, even the famous Jeep climb was on the menu.

I started doing a TrainerRoad plan in April and fell in love with the structure and the peace of mind of knowing every pedal stroke counts for fitness gains. The jury is still out if I am a good ramp tester or FTP test person in general, but I have felt sharper. I always tried to do the workouts outdoors if I could, as it’s way better outside.

DZ even wanted to check out the Love Valley Roubaix loop, sine that was cancelled. He got this awesome photo of me.

At some point, BWR got cancelled and I was confused on what to do next. Part of a training plan means you plan around certain events. With them disappearing and rescheduling, I was losing motivation and desire to even ride. I like to ride my bike so I can be faster at racing my bike. Especially since most of my riding during the week is solo.

I ended up moving on from my Hellafaster when the opportunity came to by Tim Willis Motivus Maximus. Since the geometry was exactly the same, it was as simple as moving my parts over and measuring my seat height. Win/Win.

I saw an ad for the Ride Shotgun seat on some social media site and I decided to grab it.

Ride Shotgun; Jack LOVES it. I’ve ripped some tame singletrack with him and his stoke level is always 100. It became a normal evening for us to head out after dinner and shred as a family of 4.

The first gravel/long race I did was in July, the Tryon Gravel Gallop. I went into this completely blind and based on the elevation profile, it seemed like it had some climbing but nothing crazy. I got dropped from the main group of 15 about 11 miles in and pretty much yo-yo’d from solo racers the rest of the day. The gravel climb up to Dupont was no joke and 32mm slicks was not the right tool for the job. One of the road descends was extremely steep and twist and made me glad to have disc brakes. I think I dialed in my nutrition well for this race, but 10-15 minutes off where I wanted to be. Thankfully my power numbers showed that I was actually working. Racing gravel is hard.

Weekend morning rides always had this great sunrise shot.

The Uwharrie Gravel Grinder was a race I skipped last year because of the course, but this year, it was still happening and I figured I had to support the local scene. I only knew a handful of names, but knew 90% of the course. I ended up putting some 38mm Specialized Pathfinder Pros on the week before and was excited to see what this extra volume was about. I kept trying to push the pace and keep it high for the first 30 minutes or so, but everyone was together.

On one slight up hill, I find myself at the front putting in an effort up this steady climb and realize I have created a gap. I decide to just keep pressing on at the power level I know I can hold for 10-15 minutes. Eventually, with how windy and twisty the roads are, I’m out of sight. I’m sure this wont last forever, but I dial it back slightly and just stay on the gas. Up the jeep climb and I push slightly more here, but end up walking the jeep section. No way I’m running. pass the aid stations and they were surprised to see me so soon. I guess this is good? I’m still by myself…

Which seems likes forever. I roll through the S/F and can see a group of 3 of them, maybe 3-4 minutes back. The pros/cons of out and back loops. I stay in my zone, keep hydrating and eating, all is well. The second lap is going as planned, until I suddenly feel this weird sensation stopping my rear wheel the second time up the jeep climb.

My tube somehow fell out of my strap under my seat and is now WRAPPED AROUND my cassette and chain. 41 miles into a 50 mile race, 30 of them solo, and I’m dealing with a mechanical with exhausted legs and arms. I spend 2-3 minutes ripping this out and finally get in my way. Afraid that someone will sneak up on my here. The rest was nice but now my body isn’t interested in pedaling anymore. I’m almost out of water now too.

Thankfully some of the people at the turn around spots have a bottle of water and I stop, squeeze it into my bottle and head off. I do see another gentleman solo coming up on my as we pass each other, I still have 4 minutes or so on him. I ask if he’s 40+ and he says yes, so that is a slight relief.

Rod ends up closing the gap on me with about 10 minutes left of the course. We chat for a tad and he decides to attack me, and I’m totally cooked from my steady state effort and have absolutely nothing to give. I end up rolling in 30 seconds after him, and I will win the Open 50 mile version. The venue is based at a camp ground and has easy access to the lake. Sadly it was pretty warm, but a nice way to clean up and wipe the gravel/grime off yourself.

A win is a win.

I was feeling good about myself and was excited to see what else I can do to challenge myself. I see Trans-Sylvania puts in a race in Holly Shelter, about 30 minutes from Wilmington, where my parents live. So I planned a vacation around doing that race. Had some time to kill so:

Decided to jump into another Rock Hill Crit. always interesting.

Crit legs haven’t really showed up, or I’ve just been unlucky.

At some point this year, I decided to convert the Motivus to disc. I was slowly acquiring parts. One of the reasons I got this frame, a quick for swap and boom, you have disc bike. Amazing. I started looking at my road bike fleet and soon realized that the Mr. Pink was going to be the odd man out. The Aloominator fits 40mm tires, the Motivus cleared 30mm tires with rim brakes… Pinky just did too many things that the other bikes did. I decided to sell the frameset. I needed another road bike though, still. Ive grown accustom to two road bikes. Having one down for some reason, it’s always nice to have a road bike to pedal fast on.

Not it’s last ride, but Mr. Pink at one of my favorite spots in Oakboro.

Especially if I was going to take the Motivus off the road, I needed another bike to pedal. I always loved my CAAD10 frame and figured that would be a good replacement. I don’t need the tire clearance anymore, just the a bike that would go fast. I ended up pulling the trigger on a frame that is over 16 years old. The end product looked like this:

2004 CAAD4. Instant love.

How can something from 2004 still ride so well? Threaded bottom bracket, not one creak or noise. In, love.

Convinced some new friends to come on some adventures too.

Took a day off in Tuesday and took this awesome photo.

So now you’re all caught up. BWR is in May. Two more Rock Hill Crits are on the calendar. Theres two gravel events left on the calendar, Kings Gravel in October, which looks like a faster/tamer version of the URE Gravel race I did this year, and Saluda Roubaix, which I did last year and had a blast on. They have a new course too. I think I’ve also convinced DZ to do both of them.

If 2020 has shown anything, it’s that nothing will go to plan.