!!! Great Weekend !!!

Wow what a good weekend! Spent time with family great friends and pets! What more could a person ask for. I am truly blessed!!! The weekend started with me leaving work 1 hour early Friday heading home and hopping on the bike. I was off to do my usual route and ran upon Mark and Reich. It just so happened they were just getting started on their ride. I hooked up them and we did 2 hours easy, great ride with 2 good guys. Mark and I have known each other for a long time, we coached soccer and also played soccer on the ABYSA adult league for several years.

Friday night Diana and I decided to go the movies and see "The Bucket List". A great movie; it was the 2nd time we have been to the movie in a month.A record for us,we usually only go once every five years. We got home at 10 PM, way past my bed time, the kids were worried that we stayed out so late!

Saturday dawned, I did some work around the house and called Cara to she if she would be interested in doing a road ride. We met at the house and went out on a gently rolling 3+ hour ride. I really intended for it to only be 2.5+ hours but I had not ridden the route in a while and my time estimate was slightly off. I feel rather bad that the ride was 3+ hours since Cara had done a difficult ride the day before with Andy on the tandem and was slightly tired. It was a great ride but I was tuckered out at the end.
After the ride I went and picked up my chainsaw from the hardware store and begin clearing the bank behind our house. Great upper body workout. I got half of it cleared and stopped to eat a great meal, burgers, potato salad and beans mmmmmmmmm good!

Sunday, Diana and I rolled out of bed @ 4:30 AM(!!!) to go to the easter sunrise service at Chimney Rock State Park, Lake Lure. This was the first time I have been inside Chimney Rock Park, great place. All I could think of on the way up was wow this would be a great climb on a bike!! Here are some pics:

After the service we returned home I cooked breakfast and we had a quick nap.

The nap was interrupted when Nate called and wanted to go mtn biking in Pisgah so I told him to come on over and we could go do a 3 hour ride. We had a great ride and unlike the ride the previous day my estimate was dead on, 2 hours 50 mins. And only 1 flat.

After the ride we returned home where we began the tradition of dyeing easter eggs.

The kids think I'm goofy, oh well. Oh yeah and someone snitched a piece of cake, see for yourself.

And the culprit, note the beady eyes, I am sure he snitched the cake!!

Anyway a great weekend and the best of all was the mask my daughter got me while on her cruise. It is nice to be thought of when they are far away!!

D-Dub's 6 hour / 4 hour Race

The first race of the Dirty Spokes LLC 12/6 hour endurance mountain bike race series was held this weekend at Heritage Park Georgia. This is a perfect venue for an endurance race. The park has a huge covered pavilion which allows you and your gear to be out of the weather and it also has plenty of parking.

Nate and I left Friday night and spent the night with my brother and his wife who live on Lake Hartwell. This put us 1.5 hours from the race which meant 1.5 hours more sleep.This was the first time Nate or I had been to their new place. They retired 5 years ago and moved from Hendersonville to Lake Hartwell. We had a great visit!! Priscilla got up the next morning and fixed a great breakfast packed us some home made brownies and then we were on our way!

The weather was questionable. We passed through several rain squalls and was not sure what the weather would be like once we reached the venue. It turned out to be great with overcast skies most of the day and relatively cool temperatures. The rain did start almost immediately after the race and we had quite a storm for ~30 minutes.

The race itself was great! I got a call up for winning the 50+ 17 mile Snake Creek Gap TT. You should have seen the fear in everone's eyes knowing they were going to have to race against me(yeah right the short pudgy 50 yr old). I started the race feeling awesome. I thought wow maybe I can make the podium. 2nd lap I was still feeling good eating a drinking and trying to pace myself. The 3rd lap I was begining to feel tired and the 4th lap I just wanted to make it back so I could quit! My stomach was queasy which was probably a result of all the GU's I had eaten and the Gatorade I drank. My next race I am going to go with roasted red potatoes and water. I did do 4 hours and I did not finish last so my goal was accomplished. I knew going into the race I would only be good for about 4 hours. After finishing I cleaned up sat in my chair and watched Nate and Andy race. Man this was a lot easier than racing. Perhaps I should just spectate!!
Nate and Andy had a great race with Andy 6th and Nate 3rd. Man they looked haggered!

After the race it was pack up and head to the barn. The drive home was uneventful stopping only for food and to get some Aleve. OH yeah we stopped at Wendy's and the lady gave me the Senior discount without me even asking. I am sure some of you that read this blog will get a chuckle out of that!!

Looks like this coming weekend will be no racing. Just riding from the house and doing chores!

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!