2nd Best Trophy

This is the 2nd coolest trophy i have won. The first being the glass trophy it is hanging on:

The glass trophy I won at a cyclocross race in GA. Nathan and I both raced the B-race. Nathan finished 1st and I finished 2nd. Pretty cool standing on the podium with your son 1-2.

Not much happening this past weekend. I did not participate in any races but I did get in 2-3 hour mtn bike rides on Saturday and Sunday.Diana and I bummed around some, bought some accessories for the tandem, worked on the farm and played with the dogs.

Next weekend March 15 Nathan and I plan on going to GA to do a 6 hour mountain bike race. I was hoping that Nate would want to do a duo but he wants to ride solo so I will be doing a 6 hour solo race. I am not ready to do a 6 hour race although it will be good training and it will take me a week to recover!

That's about it for my weekend! kinda boring not racing!

The Grand Finale

This was the last weekend of the Snake Creek Gap TT. I have really enjoyed this event but was glad that we were making this trip for the last time. I have been pleased with my results: 2:13, 2:11 and 2:06. My cheetos training plan seems to be working :). I won the 50 + 17 mile,Stephen Janes was top 10 in the 34 mile SS group,Cara place 3rd in the women's 30+ 17 mile and Andy place 3rd in the 34 mile 35+ category. We were all pleased with our results and glad that it was our last trip.

The farm is progressing nicely.The onions, lettuce and spinach are popping through the ground and should be ready to munch on in a couple of weeks. I still plan on planting "tommy toes", cucmber and some potatoes. The blueberry bush looks to be in good health and hopefully will not get frostbitten this spring. We usually have tons of blue berries. For those of you wanting something easy to grow with very little care, buy some blueberry bushes.

My next race is March 30th. I am not sure if I will be doing the Chickasaw Classic(5hr drive but ambc event} or the Uwharrie race which is part of the Southern Classic Series and there is also a SERC race in Georgia. What to do...What to do so many races in one weekend! Wish I could do all 3.

Oh yeah my daughter called today to say hello and that she was sunning on the deck of a cruise ship. This is her last semester and she decided to splurge and go on a cruise. I have never been on a cruise but I have floated down mud creek on an inner tube. I am not sure I am the cruise type? Anyway it was great hearing from her as always and I am happy it is her last semester, she has worked very hard.

I hope everone has a great week!!! Thanks for reading!

A great day and a great ride

Chris Young and I had a great ride today. We did the d-dub-buffalo hoals route #1.I misspelled shoals when I created the route on "map my ride" and have been to lazy to go back and correct it.I have created and listed several rides on "map my ride". The majority of these rides originate from my house since I usually start 90% of my rides from here. This will probably increase to 98% as the price of gas increases.
Todays ride went well. We start at ~9am and the weather was perfect in Fairview, the fog had lifted the sun was out and the birds were singing. We made our way down Brush Creek and then to Highway 74 and over Hickory Nut Gap. This is one of my favorite climbs; just steep enough to allow a good rhythm and get a good "burn" in the legs. Once over the gap we dropped down to Lake Lure. Wow it must have been 10 degress colder and the fog was just begining to lift. Not only was it chilly but it was also damp. I assume the cold air had settled into the valley and the warmer air was at the higher elevation (Fairview). We made it through the town of Chimney Rock took a left over the dam and contunued around the back side of Lake Lure. The view was incredible with the fog lifting off the lake, the granite rock cliffs as a backdrop and there was very little traffic.
We continued around the lake and on to highway 9 with no mishaps. We did stop 2x to munch on some peanut butter girl scout cookies. These things were great! Only wish I could have had some milk. Although,we did see several cows along the way and I did mention to Chris that we could possibly milk one of the cows into a water bottle and then have milk and cookies. Chris was not sure what the farmer would think seeing someone in lycra and shaved legs tugging on his cows udders. On the other hand I do not recall seeing any udders on these cows so maybe Chris and I will stick with store bought milk!
We made it home safe and sound and had a great lunch. Turkey sandwiches on wheat bread with lettuce and tomato, a side of cheetos and of course a coke! Oh yeah I did have some peanut butter cookies with store bought milk!!

it aint easy

The week was filled with emails planning the ride for this weekend.A ride for Saturday was scheduled. We were to meet at Kris Bedsaul's house and do 3-4 hours @ bent creek. I chose to meet everyone at rice pinnacle parking area since i did not know how much parking space Kris had and from the emails it sounded as though we would have a large group.
Once at the rice pinnacle parking area the group began to form: Marcus Jones, Jason Morgan, Will Black,Tim Hopkin, Chris Young, Kris Bedsaul, Michael Scholtz and myself. I knew this was gong to hurt. It aint easy being fat and fifty!!The ride went well we had a great time and only one flat. The conversation at the top of Lick Green trail made me a bit uneasy. There was a lot of talk about broken collar bones. Russel Henderson broke his Tuesday of last week and Will Black has broken his 5 times. Not very confidence inspiring talk before heading down Lick Green trail. I made it down safe and sound all the while thinking of Will's broken collar bone, 5 times wow.
I have been working on my weight and have even read some articles on the issue. One article states that you should eat some fruit if you crave something sweet. So here is the test. Which of these would you choose?

ok i chose the apple but ate the cookies...my favorite sugar cookies with sugar icing!

I'll eat the apple tomorrow, besides there are no more cookies :(.