Friday, February 29, 2008

Hard at work

Sorry it's been so long, but obviously I'm hard at work. More to
come......

Thursday, December 06, 2007

The video

watch the slideshow that Carrie made of this weekend

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Sweet Home Alabama Cross

Last Sunday, the wife (Carrie), the friend (Adam Newman) & I drove from Destin, FL to Montgomery for the AL State CX champs. We arrived at Fain Park to find a hill, lots of 180's, some mud and two run-ups.

Adam raced first in the B's and did much better than the previous day in Tally. After a few laps I handed off the pit responsibilities to my dad, who came down from the Ham to watch and help, so that I could get ready. Here's where I made my first mistake. Always pre-ride the course! Here's why.

The first lap of my race was fine. I was in contact with the first group and sitting in about 4th or 5th comfortably, which was my plan. On the second lap, I was approaching the mud pit and decided to take, what I thought, was a more conservative line. I was very wrong. As I cut across the mud, my rear wheel caught one of the ruts and put me down on my left side. Normally in cross, you expect to go down a couple of times, so I got up and went to remount my bike. The rear wheel wouldn't move at all. Also, my right brake wouldn't move. So I released the quick release on the brake and rode to the pit with only a front brake. I lost at least 1 or 2 minutes trying to get going. I grabbed my spare bike and went on hopping to get my main bike back after Adam and my dad got it working. Well this never happened.

Turns out the rear right seat stay failed going through some ruts in the mud and I went down! It really sucks because I really loved that bike. Fortunately none of my support crew told me this during the race b/c they knew I'd be pissed. After several bike exchanges, including one onto Adams bike (which has the brakes switched), I finally realized that I was MINUTES off the next guy and I was dead last! My crew was able to accommodate my request for a beer while riding and this became my secret weapon.

I caught three guys in the last two laps and ended up 5th place. Photo's are to come

Monday, December 03, 2007

1100 miles, no waffles, some mud & tons o fun!

this past weekend we (me, Carrie & our pal Adam) drove to Tallahassee for the second stop on the Florida state cyclocross series. We drove up Friday night and stayed at the well used la quinta inn. We vetured our way to the race venue on Saturday morning and found all the usual cross suspects were there. Adam & I gota good look at the course and understood that it was going to be a tuffy. It had many wonderful elements including; a paved uphill start/ finish, some great single track sections, some stairs to run-up, an off camber turn, super fast descents, a sand pit, and more!

My race went pretty well. I had a decent start and didn't get caught be hind any real mess ups in the first lap. I was with a couple of guys for the first two or so, and then on the third I had a slight gap on the doods behind me. Paul Kavan, who is an absolute monster was right ahead of me and I was feeling ok. I was told at be halfway, that I was in third. I knew that I didn't have a lot of ability to move up at that point but I still needed to ride clean to hold third. In the last lap, someone told me that Paul had a flat. I inmediatly gassed it to try and catch him. Well, karma kicked in, and I crashed hard into the barriers with 300 meters to go. When I went to remount, my rear wheel wouldn't move! I had the shoulder the bike and run for dear life!

Paul too was running and it became an uphill footrace to the line. Paul got in just ahead of me and then fourth place came screemin' in just behind me. It was a finish for the ages.

I'll right about our trip up to montgomery tomorrow.

Friday, November 30, 2007

Livin' Large this weekend

Me (Hank), Carrie and Adam G. Newman are headed to Tallahasee for the second stop on the Florida Cyclocross Series. It should be a good race given the terrain of the area. Hopefully it will rain, sleet, snow, be windy and humid for our races, you know, to make it cross worthy!

After the race we're headed to Destin to see my mom, sister and the kids. Hopefully Adam and I will get a chance to hit McGuire's Irish Pub on Saturday night! It's always a delight to show a new person that place.

On Sunday, we head up to Montgomery, AL for the Alabama State Cyclocross Championships. I hope I'll be able to race well aginst my cx bretheren from the old country, but we'll see. I'll post some photos and updates as they come

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

More to come

I know I've said it a million times but this time is different. I'm going to be better about updatng my blog. So feel free to criticize me if I don't follow through.

Sunday, August 05, 2007

Sum Up 2007...... Thus Far!

Well, I got married to Carrie Pratt on March 31st in Tampa Florida. It was an awesome time. All of my best friends were there with a few exceptions. I was married in traditional Scottish attire. The Prince Charlie complete with family Kilt! My father was my best man, and my closest mates were grromsmen (also in Kilts!). Carrie and I had more fun at our wedding than anything else we had ever done. We only wished it could have lasted longer. The photo slideshow is below
http://robertburgephotography.com/show/hankcarrie/

I also started working at a new bike shop. Florida Bicycle Sports. It's a great shop that specializes in performance cycling and triathlon gear and services. Check us out!

The racing scene has been slow due to the Life/job change. I am still training, but lighter than usual. I have been holding off due to our 3 week honeymoon in France and Scotland that is in July/August. The next post will be a whole story and photos from that trip.

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

New Years Crit in Orlando

team Chainwheel Drive pulled out another 1-2 in Orlando yesterday. Brant Speed and I drove over after each having rung in the new year, on Sundsay night. We decided to race in the Category 4-5 race in order to score points towards our Cat. 3 upgrade that we are going after this year. The race started out relativly normal with your usual yahoo's in the race that are sketchy in turns and do not know proper race etiquette. There was no real strategy being played out by anyone, and our gameplan was to try and make a break with 5 laps to go in the 15 lap race. Well..... on lap 4 or 5, the race announcer said that their would be a prize for whoever won the next lap. Halfway through the 3/4 of a mile lap, Brant Speed (BS) said to me, "Do you want to go after the preeme?" To which I responded with, "Why not!"

I surged to the front and took the prize and then found that their were only 3 of us at the front of the group. The guy with BS and I said, "Do you guys want to keep working?" "Nah, it's too early," I said. Then BS said, "Ok let's go". SO we took off. We then dropped the other guy within the next half lap and we were on our own the whole rest of the way. In the last lap we decided to just go side by side to see who would have the best drag race to the finish. Well, it was BS who did and I took second on the road once again.

I will have my revenge though. Cyclocross season is upon us in Florida ans I know that I've got sweet skills!!
Here's the link to the photos
http://www.yourpictures.biz/gallery/2300286/16/120265217
check this one out

Friday, December 15, 2006

December Updates

Man oh man, It's been a while. I know some of you's are gonna be mad for the long delays between posts, but I'm busy! So shut up. SO far since my last post, I've won a cross race in Georgia, finished third at a ross race in Georgia, gotten back on the track and found that I still have decent fitness, but still am having trouble getting up and staying up in the mornings.

I'm really working toward being consistent this year with my training. I have found that the only real time to put in some miles is in the morning which will require me to go to bed early all the time. I sure am glad that Carrie is going to marry me in March, but I'm going to put her through the ringer for these next couple of months with my devotion to my training.

Here are some objectives for the upcoming year; 1) Get married, 2) win Gasparilla 15k, 3) have fun at Citrus City Cyclocross series, 4) win Morton Plant Triathlon, 5) Get to some ITU races and get results, 6) have the best year ever as a coach.

This should be fine I can do it.

Monday, October 23, 2006

Cross season in effect

This past Sunday, my co-hort Brant Speed and I participated in the first official cyclocross race for the season in Augusta, Georgia. Team Chainwheel Drive was able to pull out a 1-2 finish in the "B" race.

The course was awesome! Just as I had hoped, it was cool (in the 50-60's) and rainy and the course was steep ups and downs with many technical aspects to navigate. At the start, I was able to spend the first lap (of 6) sitting pretty in third position. On the second lap I took over the lead on a flat grass section, only intending to take a pull on the front of our group of three. After going through the most technical aspect of the course, which was a steep set of barriers, I found my self with a bit of a gap to the chasers. I held the lead, riding patiently, and steadily put time between myself and the chasers. I was able to ride conservatively and took the win.

Amazingly, my teammate, Brant Speed, was able to go from being in last place on the first lap, to second place at the finish. He rode awesome, and was gaining time on my the whole race. This was very impressive considering that this was not only Brant's first cross race, but it was also his first off-road race!! He was incredible!

We had such a blast at this race and met some cool people who we will hope to see again at some later season races. Check out www.georgia-cross.com

Santa Rosa Island Triathlon

Hey folks, I forgot to publish my summary of the SRI TRI from a few weeks back. I finished second to National team member Brian Fleischman, who pretty much demolished the course.

I had a rough start, where my goggles were knocked loose and filled with very salty ocean water. I swam blind the whole swim and tough that I was right with Brian. Turns out he was way off the front. I had a terrible bike ride on the way out. For some reason I just had no power going out on the out-and-back bike leg of the race. After I made the turnaround though, I was firing on all cylinders and chasing guys down. I came off the bike in 5th I think, and immediately caught two guys in transition. Then I was able to run down two other guys before the turnaround point, halfway through the 5k run. I knew I couldn't make up the huge deficit to Brian so I was able to put the engine in cruise control and high five my niece Emma at the finish. It was cool! This was a good way to end the triathlon season for me. It was a great race and a blast to participate in. Check out www.sritri.org

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Busy Sunday for Team Campbell

Last Sunday was quite full of events. I raced the Sand Key Triathlon in the morning and won the event. I felt really good and under control the whole time. The bike course was awesome! Bev Buysee setup a nice course that had a bit of everything. It went over the Sand Key and Memorial Causeway bridges twice each. It had some nice fast straightaways and some tight technical turns in downtown Clearwater and Clearwater Beach. It was a delightful deviation from the all too often, "out and back" courses that we always have to race on. The run course was also a fun adventure. Bev had us on pavement, grass, sand and even a nice dirt path. All of the run was within Sand key Park so the spectators had ample opportunities to cheer for the athletes. It was a great event that should grow big time in the future! Visit http://www.trithisinc.com/results.shtml

In the afternoon on Sunday, I raced the Suncoast Road Race in Venice. I finished 2nd behind my Chainwheel Drive teammate Brant Speed. We went on a breakaway half way through the 12 lap race and put a good 2:30 between ourselves and the main pack. It was awesome! I bonked on the last lap and fought my way to the finish line with Brant a good minute ahead. I was finally exhausted from a tough but fun day. visit http://www.floridacycling.com/USCF/DataAccess/RaceResults.asp?RaceID=200&CategoryID=5

Carrie spent the day at the Bucs game where Chris Simms had his spleen ruptured in a loss to the Panthers. Carrie spent the rest of the evening t the hospital covering the story. What a weekend!

Here comes the Fall

Well after an unusual summer of racing with both ups and downs, I slowly make the transition to the "Off-season". This past weekend was big for me. I won the Sand Key triathlon and then on Sunday afternoon, I finished second behind my teammate and break-away partner Brant Speed, in the Venice cyclefest Road Race (cycling). It was a blast but man was I shelled after it was all over. The next big event for me is the Santa Rosa Island Triathlon in Pensacola. It's going to be great because that is where my sister has moved to a few months back. Please check out another blog I'm working on called floridacross

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Morton Plant Triathlon

This past weekend I placed 5th at the inagural Mortan Plant Triathlon. It was a pretty awesome field for a sprint triathlon with two Ironman champions there! I was still very much rundown from the sickness I had the previous week. I was probably racing at about 60% of my true ability. That's not to take anything away from anyone else, or from me for that matter because I worked hard to hang on to 5th place. I only had about two training days in the previous two weeks, which if you're following, really sucks! I am really motivated to get in great shape from the rest of the races this season. I think most importantly, I want to have some great races here locally in Florida. It's nice to do well here at home.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

2006 Race Schedule

2006 Race & Travel Schedule
Hank Campbell
(tentative)


May 13th Sarasota Sharks Olympic Siesta Key, FL
May 28th Crystal River Sprint #1 Crystal River
June 4th Dunedin Beach Triathlon Dunedin, FL
June 9-12 Nissan Xterra Southeast Championships Birmingham, AL
June 23-26 Long Beach ITU Long Beach, CA*
June 30- July 4 ITU Brampton Brampton, Canada*
July 16th Morton Plant Mease Tri Clearwater, FL
August 3-6 USA Pro Nat’l Bridgeport ITU Bridgeport, CT
August 19th Coca-Cola Sprint Triathlon Ft. Desoto, FL
August 25-29 Trip to D.C. D.C
September 1-4 ITU Boston Triathlon Boston, MA
September 14-17 ITU Westchester Westchester, NY
September 24th Sand Key Triathlon Clearwater, FL
October 6-9 Santa Rosa Triathlon Pensacola, FL

* Indicates Potential race

A tousand Apologizises

Yes I know it's miss-spelled. That's part of the fun folks! So I messed up again, by not sending you folks this web address when I sent out an e-mail to tell you about the blog. However, I guess that if you're here, then obviously you were able to figure it out huh!

Tonight is Ladies' Night at the bike shop, and I'm the only male staff member that was asked to be a part of it. I told my boss that I didn't know weather to be honored or offended by my selection! Either I'm the most even keeled, confident, positve, understanding, non-judgemental, professional employee at the shop or I'm way too emotional and the whole, "Pink is the new Black" thing is being taken the wrong way!

Just kidding gang. I know that I was chosen because of the way that I respect others. And that is a direct result of surrounding myself with good people like yall out there in cyber-land. Keep in touch and I'll see you soon.

Also, I'm coming to Birmingham for the Xterra Regional Championships at Oak Mnt. on June 11th. I'm coming in on the 8th or 9th, and I'm bringing Carrie with me!!! So all of you who can get there, make it so!!!