My boy Steve Carwile blew me away when I first met him some years ago. He has had some health battles too but has always been a teamplayer with CSC and now ep.com.

This season I have watched Steve return to the form that made my head turn the first day I met him and that makes for a great story. Today at the first ‘cross race of the season, Steve was the only man to follow King Trebon and that is pretty RAD!

Here is what he had to say about it:

The race today went really well! The course had everything…dusty single track w/ 2 steep climbs, twists, wide open areas…fun. Trebon and I took off and put in a large gap over everyone else. After a few miles I was going into the red zone so while I was recovering Donald Reeb bridged to me. He didn’t want to do much work (it was windy) so I got rid of him and had a big enough gap that I couldn’t see anyone behind me. I’m getting faster every week and I really surprised myself today and had a great time. I was surprised I had such a gap as I was just keeping a steady pace and not drooling on myself. Thanks for your support.

Steve

I would say so too! Glad to have you back!

Tranny and I race Ireland!

My frequent flyers may remember that I won a little trip to Ireland in April by besting the field at the Whiskey Off-Road in Prescott Arizona. The trip was to contest the Single Speed World Championship in Ballyhoura Ireland. Honestly, the thrill was in the chase as I really haven’t ever had any desire to race the SSWC even when it was in here in the States. Having won the trip, I was committed to the effort and since I can talk myself up to anything excited to go.

With my on/off battle with EB and ensuing chronic fatigue exacerbated by my sleep apnea, I didn’t expect to be great in Ireland but I will say that I planned to go fast—after all it was a race! Read more »

Evan Plews, photo by Kenji Sugahara

A couple years ago, a buddy started a local summer short track series at the local fairgrounds. I’m not big for riding in circles but I pony’d up and won the overall the first go-round despite starting to feel the effects of EB and chronic fatigue in 2009. Last year I knew I had nothing for it and for the better stayed home.

With the positive treatment with CPAP and summer coming full-on I decided it was time for a revisit. This time I vowed to make it work the ride across town and signed up to race both the single speed and open races which went back to back. This meant about an hour of racing full-gas each week which would give me some good training stimulus and really test my recovery capability. Read more »

Being the year of the single speed and having never raced the category in local events, I took the challenge of competing for the OBRA title. Nothing too great, but we have had some distinguished champions over the years including yours truly in several disciplines so why not?

The race was held at Alsea Falls just southwest of Corvallis Oregon. The state has opened up a few miles of single track in that area for MTB and it was my first visit. The course consisted of a short six mile lap that included a bit of flat pavement and fireroad, a super steep gravel climb and some twisty rooted trail back down.

It wasn’t a great SS course since there was no way to gear appropriately for the climbing and be pedaling much the rest of the time. I geared low (2:1) for me and still struggled just to make the 20+ percent grade thus dashing any hope of duking it out with the geared boys for the overall. Plus the promoter only planned three laps for the single speed event which wasn’t much more than an hour.

I won that easily and continued for a bonus lap just to see where I would end up. While I wasn’t able to overtake all the geared boys, I did finish fourth overall which was pretty cool under the circumstances!

Ibis Tranny taking in Mars Ridge

Against any sort of good judgment, I headed to Sun Valley for the 2011 national event only planning to race single speed. My Ibis pal Don Myrah and I rolled out for a pre-ride on our geared bikes and it became instantly apparent that the race was going to be another joke.

The course began with some fun single track (if riding downhill) instead it was more of the “un-climb-able” climb challenge. This led to steep uphill fire-road followed by an equally steep gravel road descent. The main loop was completed on a long switchback trail followed by a lap around the ski lodge which included about a hundred yards of man-made rock garden which was flat to slightly uphill.

First amusement was arriving at the venue in the afternoon only to discover that the registration was “closed”. Apparently USAC officials are taking siestas now or need naps to handle their stressful jobs—afterall they have to yell at their customers all day! Having a couple hours to kill Don and I “pre-rode” the course which amounted to pushing our bikes up at least half the trail then coasting back down. Since I had gears on my bike this wasn’t a good sign! Read more »

EP leads the field on the first lap.

As some of you know I have been battling some serious fatigue the last couple seasons and it only seems to be piling on. After our AZ trip I took a couple weeks off everything to try to get something back on the Epstein Barr front. Next up is a sleep study to determine if that is the problem.

In the meantime, I had a follow-up appointment and learned the the EBV was again in remission so the good Dr. encouraged me to resume some easy riding.

Since I only know one “easy”, and my pals from Yreka had already invited me back to defend my Humbug Hurry-Up (www.humbughurryup.com) title from last year I couldn’t resist a little racing.

Dave, Ryan and I saddled up the ep.com Ibis steed and broke south checking into the Baymont in time for some dinner and decent rest. Upon awakening, Dave promptly diagnosed me me with Sleep Apnea so I guess I will get some less anecdotal evidence soon! Read more »