Saturday, July 5 GREG

Today is the big day. I typically do two to three races per year and this was my longest yet: the 40K MTB Xterra Freedom Fest Race at Ko'olau Mountain Range. This is where scenes from Jurassic Park and Lost were filmed. There were two - 20K loops that zig-zagged up and down the mountain. The total elavation gain was 3,000 ft.

The beginning and end of the course. Right up against the range...

I had to dismantle my bike to get it in the car. That was kinda good because I ended up lubing my axles which always comes in handy if you have to fix a flat along the way. As you can see, I am not one of those guys who keeps his bike spotless. I couldn't care less as I go through parts very frequently. While some have told me that if I cleaned my bike more the parts would last longer, I truly doubt that. Wear and tear on steep climbs is going to trash the bike.

I have never done an afternoon ride. Typically I do morning rides or evening rides as they are much cooler and I am either haven't started anything else for the day or have finished my work and am ready for fun. Having a start time of 3 pm was a first (and really hot in Hawaii). The wife and kids came out to support me and get me ready. That took about 45 minutes as I preped my bike and my body for the race. The race started on time and we were off. Alot of the riders were on 29ers which gave them a huge advantage. I really don't care though because I like to race against myself (using course timers) and mostly do it to acheive goals to exercise for something.

We set up under a big tree that provided a ton of shade. The kids had some fun helping me prep and playing with the only ball that they have.... yes, I know, poor kids.

This is me at the start of my race. I like to wear my INDIANA jersey for good luck. I also look quite unique as I don't like wearing MTB shorts. In fact, I look more like a roadie than a MTB rider. Oh well. Those baggie pants really get in the way when you are trying to climb a mountain anyways.

My fan base always comes out yelling. I kinda feel bad for the other riders that don't get cheered on.

Renee has come out to alot of my events. I always push a little harder when I see her. Maybe it is my showing off or how she get my heart beating a little faster.

This is what Ethan really thinks of moutain biking. He is more of a participant than a spectator.

Tyler decided to show me how to 'get warmed up' for the race. He has this hilarious 'squat' and 'switch' as he does squats and does a 180 degree turn and does it again and again.

and we are off!

The race was mostly going up and down the ridges of the mountain horizontally. You can see in the above picture that we road up and down.

By the end of the first lap, I was pretty tired and my butt was way sore. The first lap took 1 hour and 20 minutes. I saw the kids along the way as I was finishing in the first lap. She mentioned she was going to head out since I thought it would take 3-4 hours and I would send her a text when I finished the first lap. I sent Renee a text that I had finished my first lap but because of the mountains, reception was poor. It took 50 minutes for the text to send. By the time she had gotten it, I was 25 minutes from finishing. She had no idea.

I was pleasantly surprised that I was 5 minutes faster on my second lap. I think this is mostly because my buddy Mike was about 200 yards behind me and I really wanted to keep in front of him. I have a problem that I start faster and then run out of gas. I paced myself well so that this didn't happen (and it didn't).

At the end of the race, I texted that I was finished. Renee was really confused that the second lap took only a 1/3 of the time as the first lap. The kids and her shot straight up and met me. I was pretty tired but had a great time.

Renee's parents also came in from Canada and met me at the finish line. They had traveled such a long way and we were all so excited to see them. It is always great to see family.

As always, the games are cracked open. I learned something new about my mother-in-law, she plays games to win. This is pretty funny because I mostly get amusement out of games and really enjoy the company more than the game.