Shake what ya momma gave ya!

Alot has happened since my last post on this thing. So, I decided to dust of the cobwebs and bring her back from the dead! 2012 is almost over, the Mayans didn't know shit and we are all still alive, so hooray for that. Bikes are still the center my life and not much has really changed in that department. I did have a super hot girlfriend for a while there but it didn't work out so well for us. Who needs chicks when you have bikes?!

Im still wrenching at and managing the shop here in Tennessee. We actually just expanded and opened a new location is Mt. Juliet. Work was a bit crazy this summer and really got in the way of bike racing for me. I guess that happens sometimes but for 2013, it's race like mad or bust! I finally have things set up at my employer to where I will be able to be off on saturdays for racing/traveling. I'm so damned happy!

A few major points in racing for me in 2012 was a big win against Mike Olheiser in a MTB race in Chattanooga at Raccoon Mtn. He and I were the only ones in the Pro category so it was a head to head battle. I let him have the hole shot so I could study his weaknesses since I know he is a powerhouse stud on the road, I knew his fitness was top notch. I laid down my attack on the first lap in a technical rocky section and dropped him, he was over a minute behind me after the first lap. I threw down on the second lap making it even faster than the first wanting to bury his chance of bridging the gap back to me. As it turns out Mike dropped out of the race after that lap. He did Tour of Utah a week before hand and was toast I guess, Pehaps that race didn't mean much to him but to me every race is a battle, it's a war. I'm sure he won't forget me after that race, I'm certain he just thought he could walk away from me no problem so I'm glad with that result and I'll take it as a big W.

Here is a shot from that race! And oh yeah... I'm rocking the dually these days!

Another big win for me was a Pro123 crit downtown Nashville. Ive had several top 5's and a second place finish once. I'm a tiny dude, at 5'8'' and 125 lbs. I'm not exactly a stellar crit racer. But on this particular day,

I played my cards right, got in the break, pulled hard and attacked right for a solo finish to the line.

Perhaps the biggest result for me all year wasn't even a first place finish but second. The first loser. 2nd sucks ass. The Black Bear Rampage brings some big names to the table and I was honored to finish second place to Thomas Turner. I trailed him by 5 mins in a 2:30 race, never could close the gap but it never grew. Although the race was in Ocoee it was relatively flat for being in the mtns, with a little more climbing I think I could have done a little better. Anyways, congrats to Thomas and next year I'm coming for ya!

So in the shape of things to come, 2013 is going to be a big season for me. I'm turning my focus off of endurance racing and I will be racing the PRO XCT and SERC series. I will only miss 3 PRO XCT events and I'm hoping to do well enough in those to gain some UCI points to have a good starting position next year. The SERC series is a more regional but boost big name pros like Ryan Woodall, Thomas Turner, Robert Marion and sometimes Drew Edsall. I want to be more competitive in this series and really roll my dice to potentially podium in the overall standings. We shall see how it all unfolds!

I'm going to start posting more often to hopefully gain some publicity for myself and my racing endeavors.

I will leave you guys with this final picture of my racing bike for 2013 because I think it's gorgeous as hell. 2013 Specialized Epic with American Classic race 29s. Kaboom!

Thanks for reading and until next race...