I didn’t have an exact plan for my third and final day in Ocala, other than start the day with breakfast from the same place I’d been going to…

The shop across the street from the trail (Greenway Bikes) has a Wednesday night group ride, and I’d brought my lights, so I was tentatively planning on that. However, once I looked at the weather forecast, I decided I’d better ride earlier since rain would be moving through later in the day. I ended up riding part of the loop I’d done on Monday with some deviations onto the “red” trails that I hadn’t ridden yet. This time, since I (sort of) knew where I was going, I did it with fewer stops along the way and started taking advantage of the general “carviness” of the trails. There’s one trail out there aptly named “Bunny,” which repeatedly dares you to lean your bike over until you feel like you’re about to drag a knee. As an added “I love Florida” bonus, I also saw a dude riding in tights, a windbreaker, and a balaclava (it was a colder-than-normal 55 degrees and cloudy).

There’s also this thing, just randomly placed along another one of the trails…

I giggled my way though a few laps of it before heading back to the trailhead with time to spare to play around in the skills area…

 

 

I managed to ride the super skinny one about half the time I tried it, and was even more successful at the other one… even doing it in the “backwards” direction that required a pop-up on to the raised end. Considering my general phobia of riding skinny, elevated things, I was pretty proud of myself. It was a great wrap-up to the many hours of training.

That afternoon, I packed the bikes and whatever I could into the Element to prepare for the afternoon rain and early morning departure. As predicted, it started pouring around 4:00. I stopped back by Greenway Bikes and bought a beer. I could get used to a shop like that…

The remainder of the afternoon was spent lounging in the giant tent, listening to the rain.

Later on, I went back to Chipotle for dinner, but not until after I’d found a huge liquor store and gone on a beer hunt for Ryan. Liquor store employees are really friendly when you walk through the door and immediately grab a shopping cart.

The next day, I was up, packed, and out of the campground by 7:00am. I’ve decided that winter training in Florida is a great thing, and I’m definitely going back next time the weather turns foul in Memphis. Speaking of… I made it back to Memphis just in time for the weather to be nicer here. It seems as if winter is finally losing its grip on the city (though, there are a few cold days in the forecast next week). Hopefully, the worst is over.

Sorry for not posting about my trip right away, but getting back home from a good road trip is sort of like jumping on to a running treadmill.

I left town Sunday morning to start the 11ish hour drive down to Santos.

It could be a little shorter if I were in super kickass get-someplace mode, but, I figured if I were going to be getting to the campground after dark, I might as well take an afternoon driving break in Tallahassee to visit the Whole Foods salad bar (road trip staple).

The drive left me with lots of time to think about all the shit I’d left at home… like a pad to sleep on and a hydration pack. I ended up going to the Ocala Walmart on my way through town and picking up an air mattress. I didn’t get a pump because I had a floor pump. In case anyone is ever wondering, a floor pump isn’t really made for inflating an air mattress.

Once I was settled (also, in case you were ever wondering, an 8-person dome tent is marvelous if you’re car-camping/living in it for a few days), I had a snack and went to sleep.

The first night, I also realized I’d forgotten earplugs. The Santos campground is very nice with the exception of the nearby highway and train noise. I’d picked what was probably the best site, though. I’m not giving away the number, because it’s the one I’ll reserve any time I go back.

In the morning, I searched the internet for breakfast and found a place called First Watch. It appears to be a regional chain, but it was exactly the sort of food I wanted to fuel a day of riding- hearty eggs & whatnot without being greasy at all. I ended up eating there every morning…

After breakfast, I needed to find a hydration pack. I went to a local shop and picked up a Camelbak Lobo that could eventually replace the clapped out Hydrapack that Ryan used. I’d done plenty of internet research ahead of time and decided that my ride plan was to try and get to the Gulf of Mexico via trails and road.

The route shown in the map above is the IMBA-designated “Epic.” A large portion of it is marked with green OMBA stickers to help you find the way out and back. Like this:

They aren’t on the entire trail, though, so there were a few stops along the way to figure out where to go and to take some photos of the gorgeous, moss-covered live oak trees, as well as the “landbridge” over Interstate 75.

   

The map above doesn’t show it, but once you get to the Ross Prairie Trailhead/Hwy 200, there is a trail that continues on to the Pruitt Trailhead. I totally lucked out in finding it, though. I saw on the map that the Limerock road kept going west from 200, so I rode north up the shoulder of hwy200 looking for it. I missed it, but happened to catch a glimpse of some orange flagging and followed that into the woods to find singletrack that was marked with more orange flags. It was a little slow-going because it was a lot newer and less groomed than the trail I’d been riding. In some spots, if it weren’t for the orange flags, I probably would have lost it into the woods.

At the end of that trail, I realized that I was out of time to continue heading west. I wanted to find the limerock road I’d been looking for earlier, but ended up on a different road further south. It still took me back east, but I ended up in some pretty sandy spots, and I had to duck some barbed wire to get back across Hwy 200 and back into the mapped trail system. Yay, Adventure!

The fun thing about the Epic ride is that on the way back, the trails seem all downhill (a relative term, because there aren’t very many hills there). The ride back is about half an hour faster than the ride out. Lucky for me, too, because I was cutting it close on daylight.

Six hours from when I started, I pulled back into camp with just enough light to see my post-ride snack… a kinda gross-looking, but super tasty mix of rice/blueberry/chocolate/egg bar, some peanut butter, and a little granola

Later, I went to town to my permanent dinner spot for the week and tapped out before finishing a massive burrito…

First off, if you aren’t already a personal friend or a “liker” of  Brickhouse Racing on Facebook, you can use the link over on the right to go to my page. I’m trying to help Poolboy Matt find a home for a puppy that was dumped with her momma and littermates in the parking lot outside his workplace. There are photos and more info on the FB page, so check it out if you’re looking for a new friend.

Now, for the good news… I’m going to Florida next week!

Let me start by saying that yes, I realize that it’s probably colder where you are than it is in Memphis. I generally deal with it pretty well and refrain from whining throughout December and January. However, it’s been colder than usual, and it seems like I haven’t seen the sun since last week sometime. Monday pushed me off the deep end… it was 33 and raining all day. Pouring, buckets of rain… All. Day. Long. The roads are falling apart with all the water, so there’s no telling what the trails are going to look like. The sun hasn’t been out since then, and the high won’t be over freezing until Saturday…

I need to be training to race 200 miles at the end of May, and I haven’t done over a 3.5 hour ride in longer than I can remember.

So, it’s time to GTFO for a mini-training camp at the Santos trails in Ocala, Florida. Exact details TBD… but I will say that I’m missing the next batch of ice and 33 degree rain that’s scheduled to come through town next week. Daytime highs in that part of Florida are slated to be in the 70’s.

I can deal with that. I plan on riding until I’m sunburnt.

 

Last week was a solid week of firsts of the new year…

-First “jersey and shorts only” ride in the 62 and sunny on Monday (followed closely by…)

-First cold-weather trainer intervals of 2014 on Wednesday

-First weekend of riding trails with intermittent freeze-thaw slimed-over corners (not sure if I was any better at it by the end of the weekend, but at least I got some practice!)

-First 15 hour training week of training of 2014

-First cute button-down shirt that wouldn’t fit because of the muscles I’ve grown in the last 2 months (I was equally stoked and disappointed- it was a white shirt covered in -OMG!- little hot pink bicycles)

-First nosebleed…

(sustained via an inadvertent bonk during practice… not a nose ring-related incident as someone on FB suggested. It hurt a lot less than the time I face-planted into a tree)

-First of several physical therapy sessions to continue the search for a diagnosis of the sciatic nerve issues that are causing toe and leg pain during long rides. As I mentioned before, last week’s MRI showed no disc herniation (though it did reveal a degenerating L5/S1 disc, unrelated to the sciatic issues).
I went to a PT this week to treat a possible entrapment of the nerve within my hamstring. He found some of what he called “muscle banding” at the origin of the pain in my leg, and, before he attempts dry needling to release it, he wants me to try nerve gliding… essentially “flossing” the nerve through the muscle to break up anything that’s preventing the nerve from moving smoothly though the muscle while I ride. He said that if that’s part of what’s causing my issues that the nerve glide exercise could make it feel worse… which it did, so I’m hopeful that we’re narrowing it down.

Along with this somewhat-entertaining list, I also finalized my order of a custom ti hardtail frame from Cysco, ordered a drivetrain for it, and made plans for a little parts swapping between my full suspension and my Air9 Carbon Singlespeed that will eventually net in two complete bikes for sale (the Air9 RDO as it sits as well as the Singlespeed with various parts from the FS that I’m replacing to lighten it up a bit).

That won’t happen until the Cysco is on its way here, though. If you’re looking for a medium Air9 RDO race-ready hardtail or a small, similarly pimped-out singlespeed, then keep an eye out here in the upcoming months.

This week is a little more of the same- it’s stupid-cold again to start the week, so I’m sure I’ll get more time on the trainer. Hopefully the weather holds out for the upcoming IMBA weekend at Syllamo.

Now that I wrote a post saying that my legs are total junk, I had a couple of rides over the weekend that proved that maybe they’re only about 75% junk. Saturday, I headed out for some base miles- a relatively short ride of just under 3 hours, but I was successful in maintaining a steady wattage throughout the miles. My route started by tracking north with a sweet 15-20mph tailwind from the south, then looped back to face it down most of the way back. Some people might consider that torture, but I can’t help but get excited as I make the turn from north to east and pick up a nice “lean into it” crosswind for a few miles before turning straight south. Matt went with me and wasn’t quite as enthusiastic.

Sunday, we’d originally planned on trainer rides since a steady, all-day, rain-turning-to-ice was predicted to arrive somewhere around 4am. However, I awoke to find that the first batch of rain had missed us. So, I woke up Ryan and Matt and we hustled out to the trail to get in as much time as possible before the rain set in for the day. It was barely starting to sprinkle when we left the house, and we made it almost an hour into our ride before the bottom fell out. Luckily, at that point, we were able to bail off of the trail and hit the Memphis Greenline to get home. Matt was feeling frisky and went to plaid on the unfinished gravel section, which I think might have been a slight punishment for the previous day’s wind shenanigans.

 

Changing gears a little… in “2014 Race Season” news, I’ve shifted my focus for race choices in May. My original intention was to go back to Trans-Sylvania to improve upon my finish from last year…a lofty goal, because last year, it was an outright perfect combination of both my best fitness and several strokes of luck that resulted in one stage win, the Overall Enduro win, and a 5th place spot in the Overall General Classification. Looking back, that was, both physically and mentally, the hardest race I’ve ever done.

This year, as I mentioned a few posts ago, Gu Energy is, once again, being a kickass sponsor. They’re supporting the 2014 edition of the  Dirty Kanzaa 200 race, and, rather than going back to TSE, I’ll take on DK200 as my next big challenge. It’s not only going to be a huge undertaking on its own, but it will also serve as a springboard to training for what stands to be another “hardest race ever,” the Vapor Trail 125. I know in the past I’ve sworn off 100 mile races, but these are more of the “epic” variety with a healthier dose of attrition mixed in to make them more exciting.

Admittedly, I’m becoming somewhat of a junkie for seeking out the next most “impossible” thing.