At 12 years old and weighing 98 pounds, Tullahoma’s very own Levi Dykes brought home some big results for Balls Out Bicycle Racing and Highland Rim Bicycle Club at the Three River Rumble 
Omnium in Rockwood, TN during the July 21-22 weekend. Most importantly, Levi won the 13-14 Tennessee State Championship Road Race on Sunday July 22nd!
On Saturday, July 21st, Levi won 1st place in the 13-14 Individual Time Trial (ITT) and 1st place overall 9-18 ITT with a 27-second lead over second place. The ITT was unusually short at only 1.35 miles in length with a half-mile climb to the finish. The start was an un-ramped standing start with no hold-assist. Levi arrived to the starting line with a heart rate of 145 beats per minute after a 8-mile warm-up. When the race official dropped his hand, Levi flawlessly clipped into his pedals and leapt from the line with a 600 watt sprint for the first ten seconds. As he transitioned into his Merckx aero position, he settled into a 250 watt output Continue reading
to battle MS you could attempt to do your longest ride on the longest day of the year. I had never done much more than a century so I was nervous as I approached the trail head that morning and as expected there was a small turnout of 45-50 riders. Gladly, I ran into a Strava friend and her husband, and we quickly put together 6 riders who wanted a more relaxed pace. This was my first extensive ride on a rail trail, and it was great not having to worry about vehicular traffic for 95 percent of the ride. The trails surface was smooth with only twigs, pine cones and puddles from a storm the day before to navigate. In the unpopulated sections of the trail there were a few 
protect ourselves from the nasty things the heat brings on…dehydration, leg cramps, sunburn, saddle sores…to name a few.