Strang and Mullins in their matching Jamis team kit are very strong cyclists!
As some of you may know, my girlfriend (and digitaloffroad.com photographer) Krista Shaw and I recently relocated from Morgantown, West Virginia to the mecca of GNCC raciing, Hickory, NC. There were a lot of reasons that we wanted to move, most of which I won’t get into here, but one big reason was our love for being active. The weather in Morgantown simply isn’t very good, and pretty much plain sucks in the winter. I’ve become obsessed with competing in triathlons over the years, competing in my first Half Ironman this past July in Rhode Island. I want to train, and I want to train outside. So, here we are, and I’ll finally get to the point of this blog!
Since we’ve moved here, I’ve been pretty fortunate to find some awesome training buddies in Josh Strang, Charlie Mullins, and Glenn Kearney. I won’t go into much detail on their specific routines as I haven’t really asked for their permission to do so. But, let me tell you, these guys are in freaking amazing shape. If you’ve ever wondered how these guys can ride so fast for an entire 3-hour GNCC, it’s because they put in a serious amount of work during the week.
Paul faithfully rode behind me, ready to give me a push if I couldn't catch the group.
Yesterday after an hour at the gym lifting, we did a 22-mile road bike ride. It was Mullins, Strang, Aussie Mark Goggins (who is here visiting Strang), and myself. We had Goggin’s buddy Paul follow us on Charlie’s Suzuki DRZ 400 just in case we ran into any issues. I usually take my time when I ride, warming up to a steady pace after a couple of miles. Well, apparently that’s not how Mullins rolls! We were hammering pretty hard from the get go, and after the first couple of hills I could hear my legs telling me that they worked too hard earlier at the gym and they really just wanted to stop. Despite getting dropped on every hill, and having to work my ass off on every flat to try and bridge the gap they created, I had an awesome time and have come away with a new respect for how freaking fit these top racers are.
Goggins finished 4th in Open A and 41st overall at his first-ever GNCC in Yadkinville. Check out his sweet cycling shorts!