Hard Times on the Farm

Unfortunately the "Farm" is not fairing so well, I may have a case of brown thumb. See for yourself:
Tomato Plant:


Grapevine: No wine making this year.



Cucmber Plant:


I don't even think the plant whisperer could help these guys.Oh yeah Lowes and Home Depot have banned me from their garden centers. I was told I stressed the plants to much.

On a better note Nate and I traveled to Heritage Park on Sunday to race our mountain bikes. We both had excellent races. I finished 1st(50+) and Nate 5th in the pro. The course was awesome and the Orbea Alma rode like a dream. We made it home before dark and I had Monday off which gave me a nice recovery day before heading back to work on Tuesday.

This weekend is "Wheel ride for Food" and maybe a mtn bike race in Charlotte. Oh yeah no farming!!

Weekend-No racing

This past weekend was very nice and relaxing. It started out with a wedding on Friday night. Nate, Amber, Diana and I attended.This was kind neat as this was the first time in a while we have been together "dressed up" as a family, with no one in spandex.The wedding went well and the ceremony was over rather quickly which suited me fine (I tend to get fidgety at these events).The reception was great with some good food.

Saturday we went to Brevard to do the Frozen creek Ride (one of d-dubs original routes). We arrived at Brevard HS where we met Vickie and Lydia. Vickie is a local and Lydia is visiting from Russia. Diana chatted while I readied the Tandem for our ride. It was a beautiful morning as we headed out toward Rosman. The route to Rosman is relatively flat and very scenic. Once in Rosman we took a left on Turnpike road,this climb is a bit steep and this is where the freehub on the rear wheel slipped a tad. We considered turning back but decided to press on and hope we did not have a complete failure. We continued to Hwy 64 took a left then another left onto Frozen Creek Road so far so good. We made it to Old Toxaway Rd and again we hit some rather steep pitches. This time the freehub would not engage so we walked up the climbs and coasted down the other side. It was a neat adventure.Once in the flats the pawls engaged and held as long as we soft pedaled.We altered our return route to bypass the climbs and stay in the flats as much as possible. We arrived back at Brevard HS without further incident. A great ride!!

Sunday it was cross bikes at Bent Creek in the AM for 2.5 hour ride, then to Cashiers to eat at my favorite Bar-b-que place..Carolina Smokehouse. Great food!!
No racing and a great weekend!! This coming weekend it is off to Heritage Park Ga for a SERC mtn bike race.

flowers and bugs

this is kinda lame but:

one mean bug:


Purple Iris:



Flame azalea

Graduation Day

Yesterday my daughter gradauated from UNCA!!! Great job Amber!! Diana and I both are very proud of her. We are very proud of both our children and feel truly blessed to have two great kids! We also have 2 dogs and unfortunately a cat(alomost a perfect family).
Amber now has a 4 year degree in psychology mmmmm I guess living with me for 20 years had some influence on this.


The graduate:


A very expensive bottle of water:


Hugs all around:

Ducktown Tennessee

Another weekend another race! Yahooooooooo. Nate and I loaded Saturday May 3rd and headed to the Ocoee Whitewater Center in Ducktown Tennessee. As usual we drove in rain most of the way over. I was not looking forward to another muddy mountain bike race.

We arrived at Thunder Rock campground @ noon and decided to ride the course in the misty rain. The start was a little chilly but once we began climbing I warmed up and actually felt good. Goneriding had done an excellent job marking the course and we had an awesome time preriding the trails. We finished our preride washed our bikes and ourselves off and headed to Copperhill TN for some Mexican food.

After lunch we headed to Van's house in Blue Ridge where we did some laundry I took a nap and Nathan surfed the net.Van arrived we socialized and had some excellent lasagna Van had brought then it was off to bed.

Sunday dawned with Sunshine and fresh air. Wow what a day, and no rain!!!!!!! Nate raced the early race which gave me time to get organized in my usual unorganized way for my race. I was a little concerned on how my race would play out with Van and I being so equal last time. The only difference being that I would have fresh legs this time since I had not done a metric the day before.

They announced the call to the line. I lined up and planned to go out quite hard since the start was ~1/4 mile uphill on pavement. After this it was single and continued to climb ~6 miles. The whistle sounded and we were off. I went and settled in right at my LT. We hit the single track I had a gap, I pushed harder to crack those behind me. While it is a 6 mile climb there are some slight downhills allowing recovery, assuming you have trained your body to recover quickly(cyclocross). I settled in and started attacking the course, accelerating out of the corners and ove r the rollers. I carried my momentum through the turns and on the downhills. Wow this was a different race than the previous week. I looked back and no one was there. Had I gone too soon to early? Oh well I was commited and wanted to stay out of sight. Crested the top of the ridge then it was a long descent on a gravel road to Thunder Rock Trail. I despise gravel road descents.They scare me!

I made it down safe and sound through the start/finisn line and on to my second lap. Wow my legs felt a lot different this time up the climb. I felt sloooowwww. I forced myself to push harder. I remembered the previous race when Van bridged up. I was determined not to let it happen again. I had to go hard but I also needed to be careful. I did not see anyone behind me but i still had to keep on the gas. I hit the gravel road descent and made it to Thunder Rock Trail. Down thunder rock to the road then the long haul on pavement back to the finish. I put my head down and pedaled as hard as I could and finally under the finish banner.

What a great day and perfect weather. Next race athens ga?

Burnsville Metric/Winder GA Recap

It has been a couple of weeks and 2 bike races since I have updated my blog. Spring is here and it is daylight till 8:30 which leaves little time to update since I am not usually in the house until dark.

Saturday April 26 Diana and I did the Burnsville Metric on the tandem and had a great time. We hung with the lead group for 40 miles and put in one short attack. I think they were rather shocked to see 2 50 year olds hanging with them. We did get shelled off the back once we reached the rollers but it was fun riding the flats @ 28 mph. We finished the ride in ~ 3 hours. Afterwards we came home soaked in the tub, cooked dinner and I packed for my trip to Winder Georgia to do a mountain bike race the next day.

Sunday dawned, I was up @ 4:30 am , ate breakfast left the house @ 5:15 and headed to Hendersonville,picked up Michael then to the race in Winder. The ride down was uneventful except for the downpour of rain. I was not looking forward to racing in the mud. Once there the rain let up and I began my pre race ritual. This involves looking through every bag I have trying to get my race gear together. I am very unorganized, more on this later. Once ready I began my warm then I bellied up to the start line.

The competition appeared rather stiff. Van Council a friend and my arch rival was there ready to race, Joseph Bostch (winner of last years 50 +SERC overall) had also bellied up to the line.The gun sounded and we were off. I had the hole shot for the first 1/4 mile with Joseph telling me where to turn as the start was not very well marked. Van came around me on a flat stretch so I decided to set in and follow his wheel. I sat on for ~3/4 of the first lap and then tried to go around Van on a short hill. Van countered, I did not have the legs to make the pass so I settled in behind Van and let him set the pace. It was great racing against someone that is so closely matched with your own fitness level. I followed Van back to the start line where I launched a very hard attack. I opened up a gap of about 30 seconds and continued to drive hard. I hit the uphill at ~ midpoint on the second lap and my legs felt like lead but I thought I could push through. Then Van came around! This was disheartening because I thought I had cracked him. I have to give him credit for closing the gap, excellent job. Needless to say at this point Van had me on the ropes both physically and mentally. At this point I decided to follow and wait for a mistake. The mistake happened ~3/4 of the way on the second lap. It was on a slight uphill and a hard right turn. Van spun out on a root put his foot down and I attacked. My legs were burning with pain but I did not dare let up remembering how he had closed the gap before. I buried myself and raced for the finish beating Van by ~ 45 seconds. What a great race going against someone so equally matched!

Now it was time to relax socialize and watch others suffer. Michael Scholts (my carpool partner) raced an excellent race and won the SS category. Michael got his podium and then it was load up the car and head home.
Once on the road it was time to decide where to stop and eat. We went through one area that had some huge billboards advertising a French restaurant. I think the name was "Cafe' Risque" . The billboards said "topless". Michael and I were a little unsure of dining without our shirts, especially with our biker tans so we decided not to go there. Apparently they also have a bike shop, I noticed the sign also said "A large selection of Adult toys". Oh well maybe I will work on my tan and stop in next time.
Needless to say it was a happy car going home.