Tour of Amsterdam

It went well on the site in lap of the Amsterdam trail. We came up with 26 miles total and were able to average 10 mph without pushing it. That includes a couple of breaks so that works out to about 2 and a half hours on the trail. Fortunately it got the Big Jim seal of approval. I needed an outside opinion of how the route would work and wanted to make sure it was entertaining but not overly difficult. I know Jim would have liked 26 miles of single track but he seemed pleased with the two track and graded roads the land offers. It has quite a few gently rolling hills, my Garmin showed 3500 ft. of climbing which is not bad for south Georgia. Rupe went along for the ride even though these long non technical rides aren't really his thing he was glad he went. I believe this will be a fun event and an excellent fund raiser for the kids at Shands. The date for the ride is tentatively set for February 26. I'm excited and am looking forward to seeing how this all works out.

Saturday night I attended a little get together for WB at a local Mexican restaurant with other members of the local cycling community. I know I've mentioned it before but this is really a nice group of people. I just wish I wasn't always the oldest person there. I know there has to be other riders out there closer to my age and I can think of a couple but I don't see them out riding very often.

In fact I don't know many people of any age that do what we do. Right now think of the people around you. What are they talking about doing over the past weekend? Let's see, I hear some football talk (watching not playing), deer hunting, yard work, golf, and some church activities. All of these are perfectly fine ways to spend time but they aren't really conducive to an active life style are they? I quit telling them what I do years ago. When I did talk about it they'd just give me a strange look and say something like "why would you want to do that; ride 26 miles on a bicycle, in the woods?" Well, to each his own, as John Prine says "I could have 1000 friends and all I'd have to change is my point of view". Well, maybe not 1000.

Fun Run

Well the one mile fun run on Friday night here in Havana was interesting. I arrived early to warm up and scope out my competition and was surprised to see quite a few people with dogs. Since the run benefited the Gadsden County Humane Society I figured they were just there to let the dogs socialize with each other; until they called for us to line up for the start and they brought the dogs with them. It really wasn't a very big crowd, maybe 35 people and 10 dogs, and I noticed that I was the only one wearing real running clothes. I lined up way on the outside since everybody with a dog had gotten to the front and I didn't want to get tangled up in all the leashes when they blew the start whistle. I had spotted the only 2 people in the crowd who even looked like they could run a mile without passing out and one of them had a dog. When the start whistle blew it was kaos as dogs and kids spread out over the whole street. I stayed behind the top two until the half way point when the one who had a dog took a sudden turn as the dog pulled him off the course and the other runner just lost steam. Once again my superb pre race planning and my awesome physical ability allowed me to win the thing overall with a time of 6:38, and further boost my local reputation as the old man who runs.

I had volunteered to work this run but they insisted (because of my local celebrity status) I run the race instead. As for all the people with dogs, children, and mothers with strollers, they never saw me coming. I almost couldn't breathe at the finish. It was harder running this mile than the 3.1 mile races I normally do. At least in those you can pace yourself, here it was just flat out from the start. In the prize bag was a new pair of Red Star sunglasses, a $500 gift certificate from them (must be a catch), and another gift certificate from a local restaurant; Oscars for $40, not bad for a little local run. We put the Oscars prize to good use right after the race with a couple of frosty Becks and some great Italian food. It turns out they also had a class for runners with dogs so they got some goodies also. Oh, and I got this cool first place medal.

Saturday was a record day at the Pumpkin Festival with more kids than I have ever seen running up and down the streets. We stayed busy at the fire truck the whole time we had it set up.

Sunday I took an old friend of mine from the moto days, who just got into cycling, on a tour of TB. He was impressed and I resisted the urge to pound him on the ride as he had done me when we rode moto. I did put in a little extra there at the end so he'd feel like he had had a workout. There is that temptation to do that to newbies isn't there? I know the first time I went cycling years ago with another moto friend who rode MTB a lot I came home and fell asleep on the porch I was so tired (thanks DD).

I'm trying to get a small group together on Saturday to pre ride the Amsterdam trail to see if it's suitable to hold the poker run on in February. I went over some of it in my pickup this week and I think it'll be a nice ride. Nothing really technical but nice views and it's someplace different. I need to know if it will work before we start having committee meetings next week and I'd like to get it done before Thanksgiving since that would make the hunters happier.

October

Last Tuesday I caught some of the BC gang at Forest Meadows for a moderately paced loop of about 15 miles then met Bob Marley at TB Wednesday for a pleasant roll of 9 miles. Saturday Rupe and I stopped by Higher Ground to pick up some new jerseys and get a little work done on my bike before we hit TB for another 10 miles. Then back to TB again (solo this time) with the BC group on Sunday for a little over 11 miles. Throw in a fire department meeting on Thursday night and I was getting a cold stare from Bunky when I left the house for that Sunday ride. When the weathers like this it's just hard to say no to a ride.

The guys at Higher Ground do a great job getting to my stuff quickly and putting up with my mechanical retardation but I'm still surprised how much money I'm spending on cycling. I know I'm buying for 2 usually but it seems like it was almost as much money to run a moto program as it is cycling. Once again I'm not really complaining cause I wouldn't spend it if I didn't enjoy it but still. After breaking the 5th nipple/spoke on my rear wheel I added a new wheel set to my wish list. This goes along with the other 7 things that were already on there. I get the feeling this list is never going to end. This doesn't even include Rupe's list which now includes a new bike since he's convinced he's out grown his.

I wonder when I'm 85 (which is closer than I want to admit) and living out of a trailer in the woods if I'll regret the money I've spent on our two wheel toys? I know people who seem to have built quite the asset base with lake houses and property but those folks don't have hobbies that cost as much as mine either in terms of time or money. Ah but there's no guarantee about tomorrow is there? At least that's my rationalization. As a line from one of my favorite movies goes "rationalization is more important than sex, try getting through one day without a juicy rationalization".

I hope to get to the gym this week, I do miss my routine and I can tell when a week goes by that I don't go. I plan to start putting some running back onto my regime. I have the 1 mile Pumpkin Run in Havana this Friday and that should be a wake up call on how weak my legs have gotten. Saturday is the Pumpkin Festival and I've got fire truck duty from 10-3. We set up the truck downtown and let the kids go through it and then let them pick out a Halloween prize. We've had 200 kids go through that truck in years past and I still get a kick out of it. This is really a great time of year isn't it?

Tree Hugger

At the Gone Riding XC race at Hailes Trails this past weekend they ran us through a culvert that had a low hanging limb before the entrance and another one after you came out. Frank F. was close enough behind me that I could see him through the trees so I'm sure that and my blazing speed had an effect on what happened. I knew the limb was there because we had ridden the trail the day before and it was the second lap of the race. I ducked for the first limb, stayed low for the culvert, then raised my head just in time to catch the second limb with the front of my helmet. That knocked me off the back of the bike but not before turning me to the right and straight into a large oak tree. It's funny what a full grown man will do when faced with the possibility of loosing a $3 medal. My only thought was to grab the bike and get up before Frank got there. I don't even remember checking to see if I was bleeding. My gosh man I could have lost 4th place in the 50+ base class! By all means get up quick!

There were so many other places on that course to further show off my remarkable abilities on a mountain bike what with all the rock climbs and descents around the quarry it was stupid to make an error in that simple culvert section. I mean the first hill after the start was like watching puppies on a tile floor. I knew we weren't going to make it because the class in front of us was still on the hill when we got there. I know I know I should have been in the lead then I wouldn't have had a problem but I had a different strategy in mind. Unfortunately that strategy didn't include Steve A. and two other riders (including the lady that hugged me last weekend) blazing by me while I struggled to get around stalled and floundering riders. I never saw them again.

All in all it was a great day. The weather was almost perfect. Rupe got a 5th in his race so he got one of those precious little medals. The swag from Super Cool Bike Shop was, well, cool even down where we were in the standings.

As I sat on the line waiting for my race to start I could see the Gatorback MX track next door. I thought back to my first dirt bike race there in 1974. Had it really been 36 years since two buddies and I drove into those pits in a green Ford van with green shag carpeting and Grand Funk blasting "We're an American Band" on the eight track? I won a trophy in that race, which was my first race, and my first trophy. From that day on I have been hooked on two wheels. And I never hear Grand Funk without thinking about that day. Life is so cool!

Kawasaki 175 sometime in 1974