Tidewater Challenge

I had an awesome weekend down in the Tidewater, Virginia area. It is a historical area because of the first settlement of Jamestown. Plus, it is the on the Cheasapeake Bay, which has a massive watershed draining the rivers of Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania and some of West Virginia. Its humbling to be around that much water. My sister Beth lives in Chucatuck and my parents came down as well. It is an area that is mixed with busy roads and malls and then pumpkin patches and cotton fields.

The Bike Beat of Williamsburg invited me down to give a pre race clinic on the course and then give a talk at their shop in the evening. All the ladies who attended the clinic were really cool and good riders. We had fun. My sister Beth probably got the most out of the clinic since it was about her 5th time on a mtbike. She was planning on doing the beginner race. The Bike Beat is a cool shop with a top notch staff. It seems like the perfect mix of experience and youthful enthusism. The crowd was bigger than I expected and lots of questions were asked. It was brilliant of them to have spaghetti and beer to draw some folks in.

The race day was cool , but sunny and the course was perfect. The lines were fast and predictable. I raced my hardtail and overall liked it for that course. I won the women's race and then jumped in to the men's pro race. I didn't have any expectations of keeping up with the lightning bolts of the Trek trifecta(Bishop, Schalk, Helmick) but I wanted to get some more riding in. I was pretty fast for three laps then petered out and just rode tempo. 11 laps on that course is plenty for me,but Kyle was superman doing 17 and winning the enduro. I had fun following Thomas on his GF 29er. I was wishing I had the 69er ready to go, but this week I'm going to get out on it.

My niece Lindsy cheered for me everylap and my parents were hootin and hollering, too. They remarked how nice they thought mountainbikers were. I agree. I was so cold after the race waiting for awards. I won some nice cash, a bottle of wine, a cool medal that will go up on my Christmas tree this year and a pint glass. David Duval wins the hospitality award for making some great burgers and snacks post race. And Hoover is the best photographer/feeder.

We went to Joyce and Mke's beautiful house for dinner. The meal was cooked in their very interesting AGA stove. I've never seem anything like that, but she is a princess so she deserves it. David made me and Beth kiss him on the cheek like we were his own private Podium girls. We humored him since he did win and beat the national champ. I think Beth is going to be addicted to mountain bike racing with her third place finish. Of course she is spoiled getting to do her first race on an XTR Top Fuel.

Big thanks for Steve Nevin for keeping old school mountainbiking alive and relevant. Its a fun atmosphere and great competitive outlet for all of us. Thanks Rick Bartels, our uber Trek/Fisher rep in the area. Thanks to Bike Beat and EVMA.