SERC #2 Bryson City, NC. (Humble bee tuna)

There was a time once, long long ago when I once thought I was a fast mountain biker...

Then came SERC #2, Tsali, North Carolina...

Tsali was a blast. I learned so much and made every moment count. I feel very blessed to be a part of the MTB community. It is inevitable, you will have bad races, but when you do, you can always count on your friends!

In all honesty, Tsali was not a bad race for me. Everything was spot on. I felt good, my legs were good and I cant say anything really went wrong. I got beat by 9 other racers that were better than me. I'll try and run through the race the best I can from memory even though I was cross-eyed and seeing red for 2 hours straight...

I was upset with myself at getting to the starting line late and I was forced to start 2nd row. Tsali had 24 pro riders, I knew position was key in this race but oh well what can ya do? Gun goes off and the hammer drops. The start was a 200ft gravel climb leading into a wicked fast downhill that was doubletrack leading into a 120 degree turn to even more downhill but on singletrack. My heartrate was so high from fighting for position on the climb the downhill was hardly any recovery and that's the story for the entire race. I felt like I never stopped pedaling once for the entire 2 hour race. I was top ten heading into the singletrack and had arguably the best wheel to follow on the DH in all of the PRO field, Tristan Cowie(hope I spelled his name right). I remember him from Mellow Johnnys because he whooped my ass there! Tristan can freaking fly DH and we bridged back up to the lead group in no time with his effort. I burnt all my matches trying to stay on his wheel on that stretch of DH and by the time the overlook climb came, I was spent. It was there, THAT soon in the race, I said bye bye to the elite group of guys in the front. On the last half of my 1st lap while in No Mans Land, Cory Rimmer bridged the gap up to me and it was great having some company. Turns out Tristan was never too far ahead of us and we were determined to bridge back up to him. Starting the second lap and riding up the gravel I pushed the pace with Cory in tow. I lit my last match too soon. Cory was able to come around and get on Tristans wheel and I watched them ride that same DH stretch together away from me just like in the 1st lap of the race. That pretty much sums up my race, I rode the entire last 16 miles alone until one last guy caught me in the last mile of the race(Omar Fraser). It sucks not being fast enough to hang with the top dogs but just fast enough to hold off the chase groups. Gotta start somewhere! Needless to say, I need to work on my downhill and power output.

Tsali is a powerman's course. Momentum and flow will do you best. I averaged 15mph in a 30mile XC race which is the fastest race I've ever done to date. I'll take this 10th place finish with a grain of salt. There is some killer talent in the southeast and I am just blessed to race alongside them in the PRO field!

This is a pic of Cory and I in hot pursuit.

I did manage to pull out a podium on Saturdays Time Trial Race. It was a 4.5 mile effort with little climbing and alot of flowy DH. 

Thanks for reading. Next up is SERC #3 in Winder, GA.

SERC #1 Ocala, FL.

I want to start off first by telling everyone how incredibly blown away I was by the MTB scene in FL. For a state that has zero mountains, I am beyond impressed with the community of racer's there. Ocala has 70 miles of single track leaving from 2 different trail heads all within about 1 mile of each other with Santos alone. It was cool as hell watching little kids hitting dirt jumps with moms and dads chillin', grilling food and just the whole scene was amazing, it is now NO WONDER at all that FL produces some amazing talent in cycling. These kids have an impressive exposure to the sport that I only wish my hometown or even Nashville had.

The race was on a roughly 6 mile course. The pro's did 4 laps. The course was fun with 50% of it being flat and crazy fast with bermed corners and the other half super technical with tons of ups and downs with rock traverses and 180 degree turns. 

I had a bad start, ONCE AGAIN, dammit! I had this huge bodybuilding looking dude to the right of me at the start that has a fast start and cut me off so it delayed my goal of top 5 into the woods even more so. Kudos to him, he did great! 

The start of the race was probably one of the slowest starts I've ever experienced in any race, ever. 100 milers and all. Everyone seemed content leading into the tech section with no yelling or jockeying for position. I was 8th or 9th into the woods and I was itching to make some moves forward.

Sorting through the yo-yo effect that comes with racing tight and twisty trails, I was able to place myself in the top 4 towards the end of the first lap. I was feeling good and ready to heat up the pace on the 2nd lap without all the traffic, my legs felt awesome and I knew that with a course like this I could potential negative split every lap. 

Starting the second lap, I was able to get in front of Chase Dickens(american classic/xpedo/maxxis) just as we headed into the woods from the feed zone. Hammer down! I was railing through the flat section much faster than before on the 1st lap. Leaning into some of the sandy corners, I noticed while using my rear brake (corner traction) that the lever was getting soft on me. By the time I hit the technical mix of the trail it was as if someone cut the line on my brakes. My lever was completely gone and useless! My first thoughts were about the recall Magura just had with the brake levers. My front brake was working fine. I have had my fair share of bad luck in races, flats, chain issues or whatever but...

I then made the decision to finish the race. Not only finish but still race. I took little risks. I want to podium in this series at the end of the year and I won't get very far DNF'ing. My second lap was still faster than my first. I pushed through the sections I knew I could, and hit the punchy stuff full bore. I rode more conservatively where I knew crashing would be more at risks and only managed to fall off my bike twice.

Aside from the crashes my lap times were still consistent with a 25,24,25,25. 

I was very pleased to hold down 4th place and still compete minus the setback. It was still a tight race. I finally feel like I am coming along with a better attitude towards racing, I love to ride my bike and I got to do just that. A positive attitude and determination will pay off, you just have to push through the bullshit! 

I called Magura today at work and have a new rear brake in transit. I always talk to Corey and want to make it clear, they have excellent customer service and great brakes. Shit happens and in a sport with equipment that is constantly pushed to its limits, you can't expect for everything to be perfect 100% of the time.

I had a terrific time in FL with great competition and great company. Can't wait to do it all over again in 2 weeks at Tsali!

Here was the PRO podium from the race.

Thanks for reading!

Pick Your Poison XC TBRA#1

This past weekend kicked off the Tennessee mountain bike season with Pick Your Poison XC in Chattanooga. I did this race last year and expected the same outcome in attendance but boy I was wrong! The race nearly doubled in size! The local MTB scene has little turnout compared to the SERC series but the new race director Michael Long did great job advertising and the race boosted huge talent in every respected category.

Word on the street was the race was going to be ran backwards. I have only ridden the course once and that was racing it last year. I'm getting super old and my memory was faulty on what the trail was like anyways, so I wasn't sweating the direction change like some of the locals. I knew with what little rain we've had the course would be fast, I do remember the trail had/has very little technical sections.

Onto the race...

The pro open field had 10 guys in it. Stout for a TBRA race and I was pumped to race some dudes I knew nothing about. Spring break was going on and we had a dude from Cali and two other guys from Ohio racing with us. It's pretty easy to stalk race results on USA Cycling and these dudes are pretty legit so I was stoked to race against them! Along with my teammates and friends Matt Schupp and Billy Wood, I knew this race would be killer.

The start had a pretty sweet "S" downhill curve into a grass field that led into the woods. The S turn I thought was straight ballin', I loved railing that corner every lap. I had a bobble at the start clipping in and thought I'd get a bad position on the turn however I was on the inside so I hit the accelerator and took the line sharp and help 3rd wheel into the woods.

From the gun we were haulin'! I don't know the guy that got the hole shot but he was a big dude and had good power but he faded pretty quickly. About 5 mins in we were all yelling at him to move over, which he did. I was then sitting in 2nd. Sean Leader, my buddy I traveled to Mellow Johnnys with was in the front now pushing the pace. He was riding strong, hitting the punchy uphill kickers hard but bobbled on a rooty downhill right-hander, my heart rate was kickin' and I didn't want to settle in. I took that opportunity to cut around and take charge of the lead, immediately picking up the pace a bit. I rode steady and maintained a small gap over the field on the remainder of the first lap, around 30 secs or so.

I always love the second lap. After the first lap you get a better feel for the course and know where you can push the limits and also where you can recover from hard efforts. I tried not to think about the race behind me and kept things smooth and consistent. I'm sure everyone was attacking the hell out of one another which gave the advantage to me if I could keep it smooth and hard paced for the next two laps! The course had very little climbing which does NOT suit me however, there were a few BMX style pump sections that I love racing on. I played to my childhood bike riding strengths and held on for the win!

Yeah, I'm tiny! So what!

To give you an example of how fast the course at Booker T is, I maintained an average speed of near 15mph for the race. For an XC race, and 100% single track that's rare in MTB racing to my experience. Everyone had a great race. My teammates did rad as well. Billy got 4th just missing the sprint for 3rd. And Matt rode to a strong finish for 5th.

I'm super pumped for the racing season, I cannot say it enough! My #1 goal this year is a podium position for the overall in the SERC series. This race gave me great confidence going into the first race of that series March 24th in Ocala,FL.

Congrats to everyone I know that raced! You are all AMAZING and keep the hammer down!
Holla at cha boy!  
-KAT

MJC PRO XCT #1 (Fear the Beard!)

I don't even know where to start with this one. Simply having the opportunity and chance to race in the PRO XCT field is amazing. I've never been one to live a life of "woulda coulda shoulda". If you want something to happen, you make it happen. Saturday I stood aside 61 other competitors all gunning for their best performance in what was the hardest race effort of my life.

Billy, Sean and I took Sean's sweet-ass Mercades Sprinter van to Texas for stop #1 of the Pro Cross Country Tour, the Mellow Johnnys Classic. Located west of Austin at Flat Creek Ranch, the first race of the season promises a shit ton rocks, cactus and all around fun racing bikes.

I'll keep this post short and sweet, this weeked was one I will never forget! Photos are in no particular order, I'm just lazy.

1k to go sign, lil stinger of an uphill that led into a cattle trail on the ranch that was a fast section with one uphill rock traverse before the finish line.

Shreddin' some Downtown Austin fun after the race. Downtown Austin is INSANE, plus they have an arcade with free games if you drink...

Billy soakin' in the VIP lounge area the day of preride. Incredible scene seeing how the top riders are treated. None of seem to take it for granted which is cool. But must be nice!

Little butt shot action of me preriding one of the uphill rocky sections.

No shortage of rock and dust in Dripping Springs, TX. I was beyond please with my bike setup for this race. It could not have been any better!

The race has TONS of spectators. Had a few dudes heckling me for my Aviators and beard. Needless to say I was the only pro rider wearing aviators and rocking a beard, but that's just how I roll! This was taken after the race, so much dust in the beard!

My buddy Andrew Sorey and I always do this before big races. Helps with motovation when you go to deep, dark and lonley places in races when all you wanna do is die, you're riding your lungs through your chest and you look down and dig even deeper!

Anyone who follows professtional cycling should know who this is. We ran into MTB national champ and USA Olympian Sam Schultz downtown after the race, what a great dude! With him was also his teammate and current U23 national champ Russell Fitzenwald.

Bad shot, but this is the inside of the Sprinter van. Traveling in this things was a dream! Huge thanks to Sean Leader!

I make this blog more for myself and reflection of past experiences so if anyone reading has any questions or comments you can add me on FB or message me stuff at KYLEADAMTAYLOR@GMAIL.COM

I really appreciate everyone reading. It's funny how alot of my friends asked if I won this race. HA, simply put, NO. I did not. I started in 47th position and finished 34th moving up 13 spots. I am beyond satisfied with the outcome. Of course, I'd love to do better. I will keep grinding it out and eventually I'll get a better starting position and maybe some sponsorship.

All in all, the race was a success. I'm so pumped to continue this year in high spirits and race my heart out to continue up the ladder in this sport I love so much. It will take alot of sacrifice and hardwork but I am game more than ever! I've had a piece and now I want it all!

Thanks for reading.

-KAT

Decisions, decisions...

Race Season is upon us all...

You can smell the hard work in the cool brisk winter air as cyclists of all shapes and sizes prepare for "the race season". This winter has been great and I've been fortunate and had the best base training ever. Not that my racing history is extensive but anyways, last year I thought I knew what I was doing preparing for the race season but I really feel I'm prepared now, better than ever. I have had an amazing off season full of logging base miles/hours and now it's time to go fast!

Everyone has races they want to do, love to do and so forth. One thing is for sure, I will be going after an overall podium finish in the SERC series, that being said I will def do 7-8 SERC races without a doubt. I also want to race a few PRO XCT events as well, these races are the bigs! I never would have thought I'd be fast enough to tow the line with the best in the country, but here I am and I want to test myself and all the effort I've put into my training. A few of these races cross paths with some good local races and it's tough making the call. PRO XCT races will cost me alot of money/time in travel and etc. I have no real sponsorship to speak of. I work at a bike shop and earn very little money. For every dream there is sacrifice. The first race in the PRO XCT series is just outside Austin, TX and is called Mellow Johnny's Classic. Its a UCI c1 level race and promises a huge turnout with all the best in attendance. The date for this race is less than a month away and is also the same day as Snake Creek Gap. Right now, I'm sitting second overall in the Snake TT series with a decent cushion back to 3rd place by about 20 mins or so. March is the last race and I would expect everyone's times to greatly improve, meaning if I don't race the March race, my January time of 2:47 will compete with those in March. That's a toughy! I really want to race it again, I am in better shape now and really feel I can improve and at least beat Thomas Turner's January time. I fully expect him to come out and destroy his January time as well. It's all just a gamble...

 All that said, I've decided Mellow Johnny's is more important. I need to gauge myself and see where I am at going into XC season. I will not get the push I need racing Snake Creek. I will completely get my ass handed to me in Texas and that's what I need.

I want to wish the best of luck to all of my friends going after the coveted belt buckle at Snake Creek and all those just going drop the hammer! Make me proud and kill it!

2013 Snake Creek Gap, the January Edition.

The Beautiful Pinhoti trail system.

Holla from the hills of North Georgia!

2013 Snake Creek Gap TT was this past Saturday. For those of you that don't know what Snake Creek is, I'll give you a brief run down... Its a 34 mile mountain bike race with a time trial format. Sending racers out in 20 second intervals to conquer their best result ascending over 5,000 feet of climbing and racing over the best singletrack the Pinhoti trail system has to offer! And oh yeah, it gets progressively more challenging leaving the most difficult rock gardens for the last few miles when you're at your weakest.

This was the first time I have had the chance to do this race but I'll be honest, I was well prepared having ridden the course several times prior. My friends and I frequent North Georgia to ride the Pinhoti trails all the time. I had a goal in mind for this race, there is tough competition and I signed up for Money Class hoping to make a podium spot. Typically, the Man himself Thomas Turner(Jamis Bicycles) wins this event with a low 2:40ish time. Smokin! My goal was to get in the 2:50ish range.

We arrived at the Dry Creek Trailhead at what we thought was plenty of time to get a head start from all the other racers. Everyone on our team wanted to be some of the first to go off, advantage being that you don't have all the "trail traffic" passing all the slower racers that start ahead of you. Well, no such luck for us. The line was already massive and some racers were already leaving!

We got geared up/bundled up, said our best wishes to each other and the race was on!

And as if a 30 degree start isn't cold enough..... try this...

Being this race is in January it's cold as balls. The most talked about part of this race is a creek you have to ride across 10 mins into the race. It's deep. It's cold. And it's gonna suck for a few miles after you ride through it! On the double track climb after the creek crossing, I probably passed over 50 riders. All of them very polite with my eagerness to pass with every second counting in a TT. I encountered my first and only real issue with the race on the first singletrack climb, it was bottle necked with over 30 people and everyone walking. WALKING! NO! I had no choice but to throw my bike over my shoulder and pass how I could. I've ridden this climb in training several times and I lost major time due to the pile up. I keep my nerves under control. Reached the summit and started the gravel road descent to Pine Needle Hill. The race has a "half-way" point. The first half of the course is super flowy and way faster than the last half so I rode conservatively passing as safe as I could. My mentality was to conserve energy for the last half, especially the last 8 miles, because those are the most technical and will suck the life out of anyone with weak legs and soft lungs. I reached the half way point somewhere around 1:15. YES! 5 mins under my goal time, I was stoked and keep my head down with a bright attitude for the hell that awaited!

The last half of the race starts with a 2.5 mile climb with some steep pitches. The trail basically continues to climb until you dump out into a double track/gravel road climb about 1.5 miles long that then enters the last singletrack section of the race. Get your food in here because you can barely drink in the last hour of the race if your objective is to hammer. It's rock city! This was it, I conserved all I could anticipating this section. with about 5 miles left to go there is a sections called "the wall". Fear by most and conquered by few. However short, it's steep enough it's hard to walk up without a 200+ HR. I kicked it into low gear and climbed the wall with 2:20 on my clock. Right on schedule for a 2:50!

I think it was the fact that I had most of the team just behind me, I really expected a few of them to catch me at this point in the race. It gave me extra motivation to hammer down. I felt great and cleared the last few miles with confidence.

My official time was 2:47. just under 3 mins slower than Thomas Turner. I'm ecstatic. Hard work and training really does pay off. This race was a gauge for me. A test to see how my season my go. It's early in the season to be digging so deep, but it's nice to know that without any intensity training I had this good of a result. Right now, I'm sitting 2nd in Money Class and I'll be back in February to hopefully beat my January time!

Anyone looking for a sweet ass back country MTB race. The Snake is it! Great trail, great support and great fun!

Thanks for reading!

Cheers!

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...