Dude, you seriously need to post on your blog/Iron Mountain

A few weeks ago, someone wrote to me in an email, "Dude, you seriously need to post on your blog.  The latest entry was May I think.". Since May, I have had several items pop up on my blogger radar screen that I wanted to share. Often it is as I am doing something that I think about sharing the experience in the form of blog entry. Each time, as is evidenced by the frequency of blog entries, I end up doing something else. Choices, we all face them and in the end something has to give. 

My last entry was just before the start of the 2011 AMBCS season and perhaps appropriately so, this entry comes just a week before the end of the season. The Spokes team has grown over the summer while my wife and I have been absent from the race scene. We missed most of the season due to work schedules, an injury I sustained while in Hawaii, and just spending time with family. The rest of the season we missed-well, due to choices. We were on the verge of deciding that we should skip the rest of the season, and decide what to do about racing next year. We were unsure if we would participate in mountain bike racing at all. Then we got an email...

The short version of the story is, the Spokes team has started to gain some traction and our lives are in a more race friendly stage. We jumped back in with both feet at the Iron Mountain Classic mountain bike race in Arkadelphia. Both of us had work things going on that weekend and thought there'd be no way that we could make the race. At the last minute, our travel dates changed and we were both able to compete.

Google Earth View of my GPS data from Iron Mountain

Iron Mountain was a great event. It really does not get much better and it all started prior to the event. The team communicated and coordinated travel plans. Spokes loaned the shop van and several team members carpooled. I think this is important to a team (it is in essence 'being' a team) otherwise, you are simply a rider donating points.

The trails next to De Gray Lake are pretty awesome in my book. Iron Mountain is fast and flowing. Meaning the trails are "easy" enough that a new mountain biker can clear most sections, while a more experienced rider merely needs to ride a little faster to spice up the ride.

Elevation Profile for Iron Mountain CAT 2 MTB Race according to my GPS.

Speaking of fast, I met James Gaston electronically through Bike Nerds and then in person at Mena. We had never really ridden together before Iron Mountain. I had heard he was pretty fast and this was his first CAT 2 race. I told him to hang on to John Ashby's wheel if he wanted a chance to win. I am not sure what all went down, but James and John disappeared into the woods and I never saw them again until the finish line. James ended up with 1st place; pretty sweet for his first CAT 2 race.


My fifth place finish was a max effort for me and I was six minutes behind James. There was no way I could have bridged the gap between us. I really enjoy the mountain biking scene and the people who participate in the AMBCS. Sometimes you just have to go to an event to figure it out or in our case remember.

The Spokes team did well at Iron Mountain. All team members finished in fifth place or higher with several podium finishes:

Cat 1 Women 19-39, Suzanne Karlins, 1st place

Cat 1 Men 40-49, Lonnie Kinkade, 3rd place

Cat 2 Women 19-39, Melissa Shipman, 2nd place

Cat 2 Women 19-39, Randi Lynne Durham, 5th place

Cat 2 Women 19-39, Mischa Martin, 4th place

Cat 2 Men 19-29, Wes Wolfenbarger, 4th place

Cat 2 Men 19-29, Stephen Durham, 5th place

Cat 2 Men 30-39, Chris Randle, 3rd place

Cat 2 Men 30-39, Micah Patterson, 2nd place

Cat 2 Men 40-49, James Gaston, 1st place

Cat 2 Men 40-49, Bryan Shipman, 5th place

Cat 3 Junior 15-18, Phillip Gaston, 1st place

Cat 3 Men 30-39, Blake Martin, 5th place

In the end, I am very glad we chose to go to Iron Mountain and we are both looking forward to Attila the Hun in Hot Springs. I am also glad that I have finally updated my blog. Well, at least completed this entry. 

Now James has another finish to his credit; it was his email that guilted me into finishing this blog entry.  

Spokes Racers

It is time to start 2011 Arkansas Mountain Bike Championship Series (AMBCS) on May 22nd. This year, my wife and I will race for Spokes. This is exciting for a few reasons, but mainly because we really like the shop and what they bring to Little Rock. We feel very blessed to live in an area where cycling as a lifestyle really seems to be catching on. This is due in large to part to all of the local bikeshops who provide great service and products to the community. Spokes brings a little unique something to the scene that we have been looking for. That something is a shop that is a little more everyday. Perhaps it is the coffee bar that makes the shop feel more inviting; like it is okay to just come in, have a cup of coffee and say hey. Our team is small and is based on the idea of actually being a team, or perhaps better described as a social club. This is our first season together and I am sure we will have a certain amount of growing pains but hopefully, we will have more good times than anything. As always, I have not trained for this season. I ride for fun. I've had a lot of fun this winter on the bike. I hope it is enough to propel me through the race this weekend in Mena. I make no predictions about the season other than I think our team will bring a little unique something to the scene that some of us have been looking for. 

good fun, more friends

  In 1996 there was this dude, and the dude introduced me to mountain biking. Soon he was dragging me through the trails at Burn's Park and to be honest there were times when I thought I was going to die. About two months after I bought my bike, he suckered me into my first mountain bike race. It was nasty and he was injured early on. It was fairly evident from the exposed subcutaneous fat, that he was not going to finish the race. He was all like [with heavy Arkansas accent] “go on man, go on without me.” I have seen enough movies to know that when someone says that, it usually portends certain doom for the recipient of the advice, if he or she fails to "go on." So, like any good friend I got back on my bike and started pedaling away. I think I finished fifth that day. Fifth from the last. I am pretty sure they had finished the award ceremony and were packing to go home when I crossed the finish line. I also recall that my friend had already been to the emergency room, his leg had 20+ new stitches in it and he had returned to the finish line before I dismounted my bike. It was not a pretty day. I seem to be doing better this season than I did 13 years ago and I am excited about racing Burn's Park because it is technically where I started. It is also where I participated in my first Pay Dirt Event. Earlier in the week, I had made plans to ride the course early Saturday morning and stick around afterward to participate in the Pay Dirt opportunity. However, my plans changed the day before and I was going to bail and leave town after the ride. Chris and I had just finished riding the course and I was packing up at the BMX track when Fred Phillips showed up with donuts. As a rule, I never eat donuts however these donuts were imported. So I ate one. Then I was going to leave but I thought “Geez, I'll look like a total jerk if I eat a donut and leave.” In an effort to keep up appearances, I stayed and worked for about three hours kicking rocks off of the trail and trimming branches. It was good fun and I made more friends. Which to be honest with you, good fun and more friends, seems to be the fruit of mountain biking especially if you are engaged in the community.

Where my bike has been since The Battle for Townsend's Ridge 2 weeks ago

Me (my long self introductory blog; my bike's story)

   Each summer my children migrate to Paragould, Arkansas leaving my wife Melissa and I alone with the dog, cat, and the bikes. The dog and cat just need a little attention, food, and water while the bikes demand rides. Rides that takes regularly take us to the woods of Camp Robinson or the River Trail and Burns Park. This summer is different. My wife is gone and the bikes demand races, so I have started racing. This past week I joined the Arkansas Cycling and Fitness MTB team. This is pretty exciting for me because I bought my first mountain bike at the Sherwood location in February, 1996 and this is where I started my bike's story.

My Old GT Zaskar, Devil's Den State Park, September 1996

  I used to ride my mountain bike a lot I even raced a few times until June 1999 when my life changed and my rides became much less frequent. My fitness suffered and I began to swell. I had quit riding altogether until I bought a pair road bikes in 2004 with the intention of riding more often. Alas this self-promise was less than successful due to a lack of good habits, a lack of discipline, and a short trip overseas. My wife left me in October 2005 to go to flight school and it was during this time that my passion for cycling was able to take root again even though it was on the road. When my wife returned at the end of 2006, we continued to develop the biking habit together. Our rides were usually very short and were almost exclusively on the River Trail. Eventually, in 2007 we completed our first century ride together in the Big Dam Bridge 100.

07 Big Dam Bridge 100, our first century ride together

This was my second century, I had completed the BDB the year before.
  We continued to ride when the weather permitted--we were fair weather riders-- which was often and our fitness levels improved. We began to incorporate cycling into our trips and in September 2008, we decided to try to rent road bikes and find a ride while visiting family in Seattle. The weather was supposed to be wonderful and we found a great bike shop that rented bikes. A few searches on the internet and we were able to find a local group that had a scheduled ride for the weekend we were going to be there. As Saturday approached the forecast started looking worse. We debated on what to do, after all we were fair weather riders from Arkansas and very unaccustomed to the weather of the North West. We were way under prepared for the ride and we decided to add leg warmers and a new set of gloves to our bike clothing inventory while at the bike shop. At this point we were slightly better prepared than way under prepared. (leg warmers and full fingered gloves were not something we needed in Arkansas in early September) We decided to drive to the parking lot where all of the riders were supposed to link up and agreed that if anyone else bothered to show, we would go. They showed. Luckily Gary Strauss was there and he loaned us some additional gear like a rain/wind jacket. The temperature was in the 50's and the rain was light but constant. We were soaked, Melissa flatted twice, I am sure we looked like fish out of water. (even though we were thoroughly wet) Throughout the entire adventure, the other riders were very helpful and considerate and worked to ensure we were taken care of. We were miserable, yet we had one of the best times of our life there and we learned that it is possible to ride in the wet and the cold. That day we graduated from being fair weather riders.

About 45 miles into a cold/wet ride just north of Seattle, September 2008

   During this entire time, I longed to be back on a mountain bike surfing singletrack. I could not convince my wife to take the leap (Leap of Faith 96 was my first MTB race) and hit the trails. She had tried a few times and generally found the experience to be something she cared not to repeat. After much persuasion and pizza at Vino's one night, my wife began to entertain the idea of investing in some new mountain bikes. Something began to happen with my ankle at the end of 2008 and I could barely walk. The doctor suggested that I should avoid running (made sense) and even cycling (made less sense) even though my ankle did not bother me whenever I rode. We ended up staying off the bikes until February 2009.
  We began seriously searching for mountain bikes and we turned to Richard, this time at the Little Rock store, for advice. We were struggling with decisions like full suspension versus hard-tail, and 26 inch wheels versus 29 inch wheels. I do not think I will ever forget the day when Richard said “Bryan, you know me, what kind of biker am I?” I replied, “fast.” He said “I am a mountain biker.” That statement really struck a chord with me, so much expressed so succinctly "I am a mountain biker." It is kind of like when people introduce themselves and tell you what they do for a living. Something like “Hi, I am Bob, I am builder, I am married, I have two children and I like baseball.”
   We test rode a few different bikes with various wheel sizes and levels of suspension when the Trek guys were in town and ultimately decided that we wanted full suspension 29er's.

Our bikes one year after we bought them, Syllamo, Arkansas, April 2010

 Thirteen years after I had purchased my first mountain bike, I returned to the Sherwood location and we bought a matching pair of Gary Fishers. I had had an embarrassing crash (you don't want to know) that injured both of my arms and I had to stay on the road for about two months before we could take the mountain bikes out and get them dirty. It was little slow at first, we rode the trails at Camp Robinson a few times in April and then on May 31, 2009 our bikes made their maiden voyage on the Womble.

Waiting on the Womble

A few weeks later we were in Rogers, Arkansas for a working conference and we decided to take the mountain bikes leaving the road bikes at home with the dog and the cat. During the afternoons, we made our way to Slaughter Pen Hollow in Bentonville. These trails were an awesome riding experience and on June 21, 2009 at the end of a hot sweaty bike ride, my wife turned to me and said “I am a mountain biker.”

"I am a mountain biker." - Melissa Shipman, Slaughter Pen Hollow, 2009

   My wife continued to get faster and stronger and made a-girl-leading-the-group a regular feature of the Wednesday night CARP rides. While I have some suspicions about their motives, I think she ended up front because she was fast and it was better to let her go on rather than force her to watch us guys suffer. In September, we traveled to Devil's Den to watch the mountain bike race. I had been telling Melissa she should race; she had amazed me with how quickly she had developed mad mountain biking skillz. In October, Melissa and I raced in the CARPe Diem mountain bike race. I figured I would not even place but I entered as part of the agreement to get her to race and as CAT 3 (beginner) racers, we both took 2nd place.

Pair of 2nd Place finishes

We were unable to make any of the other races for the rest of the 2009 Arkansas Mountain Bike Championship series.
   This past April, Melissa had to leave town for a short stay in Indiana, followed by an extended stay in Kosovo. We squeezed in as much riding as possible over the winter braving even the coldest days. Our favorite gear quickly became Specialized Defroster Shoes and fleece lined bibs. Lots of mud and sweat in the cold made for lots of special memories. April 11, 2010 was one of the hardest rides for me ever. I had dropped Melissa off at the airport and we said our goodbyes. We knew it would be a month or more before we would get to see each other again. I met up with Josh in the afternoon at the CARP trail head. We dropped down to Merlin and began riding toward Dogwood. We were about a mile into the ride when it really hit me that it would be a year before I would have Melissa home and back out on the trails. I am pretty sure Josh thought it was just sweat in my eyes.
   As the end of May approached, Melissa called and told me that she would have a four day pass the first week of June. She had visited one of the local bike shops in Indiana and they told her that Brown County State Park is one of the premiere mountain biking destinations. The trails were recently featured in Bike Magazine's article “33 Best Rides in North America" as one of the best in North America; we knew what we were going to be during during her pass. May 30, 2010, the day before I drove north to Indiana, I raced my first mountain bike race of the 2010 season and placed 1st in my age group as a CAT 3 racer.

2010 Womble Classic 1ST Place CAT 3 Age 30-39

Winning the Womble Classic was very special to me because the Womble is one of my favorite trails and not just because it is a sweet ride but we have history. I first raced the Womble in 1996 and I did not do so well. Thirteen years later riding the Womble was one of the carrots that motivated my wife to start mountain biking and we had ridden it together for the first time almost a year to the day earlier. We had a wonderful time in Indiana. We stayed at a little inconvenient place called Story Inn recommended by local mountain bikers on MTBR.com. We slept in almost every morning listening to the rain, enjoyed a late breakfast, followed by an afternoon of riding at Brown County State Park. I do not think the pass could have gone any better.
It has taken me 14 years to figure out why I bike. Riding is living and I want to live as a responsible member of the biking community. The world is a better place because of bikes. There is no doubt about it, our lives are made better through biking and being a part of the biking community. Whether it is improved health, instant friends, a reinforced marriage, or just plain fun we are a part of the chain the connects the community. As far as this blog is concerned, my main excuse is that this is a blog-I am trying to keep it short-and I am writing this without an outline. What I am trying to say is "Hi, I am Bryan and I am a mountain biker."

Riding in Brown County State Park, June 2010

It's time to get started!

I have been toying with doing this for some time. Being a very public person, this is just my type of thing I just have not stepped up until now. Well sort of, I did post a few entries on the Arkansas Cycling and Fitness Team site. I will continue to post entries there, however, I would like to use this space to develop a more personal blog. As cycling makes up a lot of who and what I am it will likely be the subject or related subject for my posts. My inspiration and cycle guide John Barton and his blog JBar Cycling will forever be the standard I hope to achieve.
I will likely transfer and develop previous bloggings from the ACF site to this space over the next few weeks as well as get started on new material. In addition, this blog will offer links ;) to cycling articles and sites that I find interesting, some technical stuff and some commentary and opinion.