Gears and suspension make you weak. I will make you strong!

-Rocky, my un-suspended, steel-framed singlespeed mountain bike prior to last week’s Red River Shootout

That kinda sums things up. I again rode my singlespeed for the XC race in Coldspring, TX this weekend. And if you know anything about single speed gearing, yes, you are reading those pics correctly: 38×18

I think had it not rained the morning of the race, that gear would have been just fine. Throw some rain and 32 miles of energy sucking muck at it though, and it is quite a painful battle. No worries though. While I was seriously questioning why the hell I ran such a high gear with about 5 miles left in the race, I have no regrets for racing singlespeed as I mustered up a 7th place finish out of 20 racers, within a stone’s throw of 5th and 6th.  The other 4? Well, their licenses all have a “Pro” printed on them, including Texas racing legend Jason Sager (currently pursuing his racing dream in Portland, OR) who decided to pay us a visit while in the area to see his family. Couple that with a crash at the start line that hindered any chance at a good start position, and then a high speed mud induced skid that resulted in a very unfriendly encounter between my right shoulder and a tree thereby sending me to the very end of the field, well then, 7th place ain’t all that bad.

It was good enough for some payout, awarded to me via a pint glass with a little scotch tape to hold the cash on the side, along with a verbal notice that the keg was to my left. I had given up alcohol this race season (a little over 2 months so far) to help a teammate who pledged not to drink until the last race of the season (May 17). When I heard that said teammate had broken his own vow the weekend prior, all bets were off, and I’ll be damned if I wasn’t going to enjoy some hard earned frosty beverages following this day’s efforts.  Bottom’s Up! Caveman is rolling strong! Too bad the XC season is now over for me. I’m skipping X-Bar to do the Canyon Lake Xterra the same day. Tri season is here, and it’s time to start training for the next big thing…

A few more pics from the drive home. I love Texas.