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.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Friday, May 16, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
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:
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:
Monday, May 5, 2008
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?
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?
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