Mikah is Home from Iraq!

See the day: Pictures

6-hour solo, 12 laps, 2nd overall (on a Singlespeed)

I raced men's singlespeed again and placed 2nd out of 66 total solo racers (59 men, 7 women). There were 15 of us in the singlespeed class. I love the Fireline as a singlespeed; it is so fast, light and smooth! Two weeks ago I finished ~8.5 minutes behind Stephen Ridgeway in a 6-hour solo race. I thought that was too much to make up, but yesterday I finished only ~2.5 minutes back. We were the only two solo racers with 12 laps! Out of the 43 teams, there were also two (3-person-male) teams with 12 laps (due to the muddy conditions the course was slower than last year.) This is what happens when you invite your parents to a race: Aside from a little poster embarrassment, it was great to have them at the race. They helped me out with feeds and split times. I was hoping Stephen would think I couldn't fit in a 12th lap and would quit early, but his Dad was giving him splits as well... Supportive families are awesome.

Yellow River Festival (and clinic) a Success

The Yellow River Festival drew a pretty large crowd, 21 women showed up for our MTB clinic! I need to find a picture... It was great to team with Sorella and mix up the drills a bit. After our 4 hour clinic I gave the Time Trial a shot, great course, very twisty, well marked, I placed 8 of 53 (1st female) with a time of 13:55. Best time (by Joe Dunlop) 12:51! If you are looking for a good social event check out Nam's Women's Mountain Bike Weekend. (women only.) I'll be racing the Gainesville College 6-hour October 25th, then leaving Georgia...

Hooky Day!

Skip work and let's ride! What a fun day! If you haven't ridden Bear Creek and the Pinhoti trails, you are missing out. Loooong, swoopy, fun downhills. Thanks to Sorella for setting this up and to everyone who attended. I spent four days at Mulberry Gap, what a great place to hang out and ride! It was great to ride with Carey Lowery, it has been an entire year since we rode together... Check out this funny blog post about our ride yesterday (complete with great pictures!): http://biken4fun.blogspot.com/

6-hour Singlespeed Dirty Spokes - Conyers!

Last year Eric (Dedicated Athlete) beat me at Gainesville, I was geared and he was singlespeed; this year I tried to get him in the Singlespeed class, I got close! Results

What fun! I thought it was a hard course for a singlespeed, super steep climbs and flat fields. I entered the men's SS 6-hour solo class and didn't have a clue what to expect, there were 11 in the field and I finished 3rd, ~38 seconds behind Eric Ritenour (2nd) and 8.4 minutes behind Stephen Ridgeway (1st). The first few hours were very social, seeing a lot of people I haven't seen in over a year and meeting lots of new people.

With three laps to go I asked John Myers what place I was, he checked it out and let me know I was in 3rd with Eric ~5 minutes up, I did what I could for the last three laps, but couldn't get him...

I pitted with Addictive Cycles who were performing neutral support. Thank you Cody, Scott and Matt for making sure the bike stayed together. Thank you Tim and Dirty Spokes for such a great race! Congrats Nam and Eddie O'Dea & Chris and Tina Pic in the 12 hour 4-person team class. Namrita rode her SS, I would guess that adds 4+ minutes a lap compared to gears.

Congrats to my sister Erika, Jen Hanks and the rest of the Utah Girls team for their Pro Woman category win in the 24 hours at Moab this weekend.

Another Successful Clinic

Thank you to Sorella Cycling and Peachtree Bikes for organizing the event (which included beer and pizza).

It was great to see old friends and meet new ones! I talked about everything that goes into racing; from the mental and physical preparation to race day stratagey and execution, including nutrition and recovery.

Monte Sano AL Festival & Clinic

What a great place to ride. Monte Sano has a bit of everything (except roots). Smooth fast twisty singletrack and rocky technical. I did the first 2 hours of the advanced ride Saturday morning and got to see a lot of trail, then begged off their fast pace and rode by myself on an easy trail. Sunday was the women's clinic. That was a lot of fun with a big turnout, the clinic and ride lasted ~ 4hours and we covered most of the basics. Thanks Mary Anne, Gracie and everyone who attended!