I Can't Find My Way Home

"How much further?"

"Not too far." 

"No really, how much further?"

" Not too far."

"I'm going to kill you and leave you in these woods if you don't tell me how much further we have to go!"

"Well, you see, we kind of have to tack like a sail boat.  We just can't go straight back."

"I don't care about that!  I just want to take the most direct way home!"

I take full responsibility for the dissatisfaction with my planned route.  I had no idea the first section of clay road was going to be muddy.  He was on a %;; #  ;*# bike.  But this guy normally beats me up pretty bad so I wanted to make sure he got enough.  Mission accomplished!

We had the option to do the Dirty Spaghetti route but I really wanted to do this loop in Decatur Co. Ga.  I was soooo excited to be back on the CX bike on clay roads I could hardly sleep the night before.  The weather was as good as it gets in late August, blue sky's and mid 80's.  I had planned to haul the bike up to a better starting point since my riding partner wanted to make sure we got plenty of dirt on our route.  Then he calls the night before saying he was going to ride from his house.  Add that to the fact that he told me the day before we should be able to average 18 mph, and I felt like a wimp.   I can barely average 14 on clay roads, I just knew I was in for a butt whoopin.   I decided to ride from my house and meet him en route so as not to look like too much of an old fart.

Anyhoo, after 53 miles we found ourselves at the BP store in Attapulgus Ga.  Being the only white people, plus wearing Lycra, we became instant celebrities.  It was here while enjoying cokes and candy bars that we had the discussion above.

I had a longer ride planned but due to the constant whining I agreed to cut it short.  The clay on the roads after the first section was perfect and there was almost no traffic.

I'm sure I'll pay dearly for this.

In My House of Pain

Why not just go trail ride in the mountains of North Georgia?  Why go race 50 miles?  It costs less to trail ride, I'll spend just as much time traveling, plus there would not be as much pain involved.  Why, at my level, should I put myself through the stress of racing.  There's no chance of a podium, in fact I'll be lucky if I beat my time from last year.  And speaking of last year I can still remember how much that last 10 miles hurt.

But there's something about experiencing the ride with 300 other riders.  Plus the preparation (however limited) keeps me from sitting on the porch drinking beer.

The pre race stress can even be a positive experience, it keeps me focused on a goal, well sort of.  Not to mention how cool the t-shirts look this year.

So I'm in for Fools Gold. Me, BJS, BW, and LBW will tackle it together this year.  Oh we won't be riding together, oh no.  BJS has been very busy downplaying his immense fitness leading up to this years event.  He posted a top 25 last year and I assume he plans to better that this year. 

He certainly has the legs for it.  I'm not falling for the excessive alcohol consumption and Mexican food.  He'll be like a bird dog just let out of the box on a cool crisp day.  Scratching the ground, sticking his nose in the air, peeing on the nearest bush, and then off on the hunt.

Whatever happens it should be a good day to be in the woods.  And what the heck, it's only 6 hours of pain.

What a Drag it is Getting Old

I got to go back to the FOREST again last weekend.  We had scheduled the ride for Saturday morning, only to awaken to signs of rain and lighting.

After postponing for an hour we decided to call it off.  I threw a child like temper tantrum which made the cats scurry off and hide.  My lovely wife just listened to me wail with that look she used to reserve for The Kid when he was 5.  The weather for the month of August has been miserable, let's just leave it at that.

As soon as we called the ride off the storm dissipated, leaving cloudy skies with a light sprinkle.  My mood did not improve.  The day was saved by a trip to the gym and a solo road ride.  Then BW called to say we were going to try again in the morning.  I was back in my happy place.

Six of us left the St. Marks trail head at exactly 8:00 am.  I think the last time we did something like this it was 54 degrees and raining.  Today was sunny!  It was the first time we've seen blue sky in at least a week.

We were able to follow my route this time, for the most part.  We only got lost at the very southern end of the loop.  I estimate we put in at least 2 hours of the 3.5 hour ride on single track.  No, it's not the type of single track you're thinking about.  Not like Tom Brown or even Munson.  My arms and legs looked like I'd been fighting the cats by the time we got done.

We ended up with 40 miles for the day, the only pavement we rode was the bike path from Fisher Creek back to Trout Pond.  Oh, and a little section of New Light House and Springhill after we got lost.  There's so much more out there to ride.  It would be easy to put in a 50 plus mile loop and never touch pavement.  If you didn't mind riding graded roads you could link up 60 plus miles with water stops at Trout Pond and Silver Lake.  Sure, a lot of it looks the same, but so does the wheel of the bike in front of you in a pace line.

I don't know why I like this type of ride so much, some would say it's because of its lack of technical terrain, even though we did hop what must have been 20 logs, and despite what BW says it's certainly not flat.  Maybe it's because of my history with this section of the FOREST, I spent so many weekends down here in the 80's and 90's.  Then again, maybe I just like being in the woods.

Oh We're Off To See the Wizard

Brevard North Carolina is a neat place.  Lots of stuff to do without the tourist trappings of some other Blue Ridge Mountain destinations.  I found this cabin after sorting through 50 listings.  Though not as remote a location as I'd hoped it turned out to be almost perfect for what we wanted to do.

And what we wanted to do on Tuesday was ride.  After a hearty breakfast of bear claws and Jumping Goat coffee we headed to the DuPont State Forest.  This was a fam trip so my lovely wife was along.  She'd been "training" for this ride for a month and was hoping not to revisit the horse poop incident from last year.

We parked at the Lake Imagining trail head and rode for three hours.  Covering all of our favorites plus some new stuff.  Thunder and tired legs finally drove us back to the truck.  I could ride this place until I just couldn't turn the pedals any more, it's that much fun.

That evening we hit a little hole in the wall Mexican restaurant in Brevard.

Wednesday was our own personal assault on Mt. Mitchell, only we didn't take the bikes.  It was cloudy, windy, and 65 degrees on top.  We hiked 4 miles of pretty challenging trail (for us anyway).  Lunch was a great burger at the diner on top of the mountain, we had the place nearly to ourselves.

Thursday The Kid just had to ride Pisgah.  He'd asked the guys at Sycamore Bike Shop for a loop his decrepit old man could do so they set us up with the "Bunny Ride of Pisgah".  We still had trouble finding the trail head.  It had rained hard the evening before so the climb up to the last part of the Black Mountain Trail was just a little slick.  I have to admit I was nervous, last time we were here I walked more than I rode.  The descent was ok, really nothing to it, it left The Kid wanting more but I was just glad to be done.

We loaded up and went back to the cabin to pickup my lovely wife and went back to DuPont to the Fawn Lake area.  They had recently built new trail there and the shop had recommended a loop.

It was amazing.  After 3 hours we were all cooked. 

These two riding areas highlight the different management styles of the  respective landowners.  While Pisgah makes it as difficult as it can to locate trails, DuPont is the exact opposite.  DuPont has flow, Pisgah (what little I've seen) seems to be traditional hiking trails that bikers are allowed to use.  No right or wrong here, just two completely different systems.

After two trips I still don't feel like I've covered a third of the trails on DuPont.  Plus there's Pisgah.  Also all the great gravel roads and paved roads through the forest.  Brevard is a good spot and since the entertainment takes some work I doubt crowds will be a problem.  The trail heads for the water falls were over flowing in the afternoon but we rarely saw anybody once we got away from the truck.  The actual town of Brevard is more like a working class town instead of like Highlands or Cashiers which look like a lot of golf courses and shopping.

Anyhoo, I didn't sit on the porch much, or read my book, or do any wine tasting, nor did I wear anything but a T-shirt and shorts all week.  It's 90 degrees, raining, and 100% humidity outside right now.  Guess where I wish I was?

After the Gold Rush

No gold for me in Helen, but we had scheduled a week off after the race so I started the party before the awards banquet.  Since I wouldn't be making the honored trip to the podium for any end of the series award I had some adult beverage mixed in my Coke as soon as I got out of the shower.

The feeling of disappointment (failure) slipped further away with every sip.  I was looking forward to the Kid getting his award as well as the rest of the Higher Ground team, come to think of it I was the only team rider off the box.  Here, just take another sip, now that feels better doesn't it?

The awards banquet by Gone Riding was well run, with good food and plenty of bench racing.  The Kid scored some good swag and made some new friends as well.  He spends so much time riding with a bunch of old men, I know he enjoys hanging with riders more his own age.  After watching my class collect their awards they announced the Sportsman of the Year Award, and who do you think wins it?  Freaking FRSS and his lovely wife!  How's that for salt in the wound?  Guy hammers me like a nail and gets 2 awards!  I really thought I was nicer than him, apparently not faster, but at least nicer.*

                                 FRSS and Santa, this is the only view of Santa I had all season

After ice cream and chips, and doing some people watching in Helen, we hit the sack.  By the way if you ever go to Helen stop by Betty's store, it's the only place there worth the trip.

Monday we fought our way through the breakfast deal at the Hampton Inn, I swear some people believe someone follows them around just to clean up after them.  Then I was off for a morning of shopping for antiques with my lovely wife.  Jumping Goat Coffee was purchased in multiple flavors.

Lunch at The Troll in downtown Helen, good food, plus the added entertainment of watching the masses tubeing down the river that runs by the restaurant.  It appeared to be the same folks I ran into at breakfast multiplied by 50.  You could tell it was coming.  A large pack of tubers all floating together hits the first rocks.  They stop, and someone invariably gets out and stands up.  Tubes bunch up, standing person gets knocked down, tubes go over rocks without riders, kids cry, dads cuss, people get washed over the rocks without their tubes, and I laugh till I cry. 

After lunch we headed to Brevard N. C. where a cabin on a hill side awaited.  Tuesday we woke up in the land of OZ.

*Just kidding D.F.

It's All Over Now

It sure was a lot of work just to end up in 4th place.  4th in the last race in Helen Ga. and 4th in the final of the Georgia State Series (sport 50+).  Maybe not enough work?  My strategy for the race was simple, just to follow FRSS, maybe zap him on the final lap.  It didn't quite work out like that.

Helen is climbing, lots of it.  It had rained hard right before we got there on Saturday which made the downhills even more of a challenge for my sight in lap.  I noticed none of my closest competitors rode on Saturday.  I might try this next year, you know, save some leg for Sunday.  Anyhoo, there was a mandatory creek crossing that you were required to dismount and walk across.  Combine that with an already soaked trail and I felt like a wet dog by the time I got back to the truck.

Sunday morning was hot and clear.  I started right behind FRSS; Santa and Clydesdale were in front.  First Clydesdale dropped a chain.  Then FRSS jumped past Santa about half way through the first lap. As he passed Santa and rolled off over the horizon I started to get a bad feeling.  I could still catch glimpses of FRSS every now and then so I decided to fall in behind Santa and see if he could pull me along.  See, I didn't stick to my plan.  But there's a reason.  I was heaving, my legs were weak, so I developed this new strategy.  Follow Santa and hope he pulls us back to FRSS.

When we came around through the scoring chicane at the end of the first lap, I passed Santa and could see FRSS going down the hill in front of me.  Back to my original plan.  But wait, for some reason I was having trouble catching FRSS.  Then Santa goes around me. Crap, now I was having trouble keeping him in sight.  Typical, I had brought 45 minute legs to a 120 minute race.

To make matters worse Clydesdale caught me close to the end.  I had nothing left.  I really couldn't have gone any harder.  Santa caught and passed FRSS for the win.  And just like that the series was over. 

The kid got second in the race and ended up second in the series.  He was pumped, and so was I.

I'm already planning for next year, it looks like I will not have to move to expert so I'll get another shot at sport. 

I enjoyed racing with these guys and hope they will excuse the nic names. 

I'll be 57 by the time we race again.  Is there still room for improvement or have I reached the top?  Will it be all I can do to just stay even?  Maybe a new training plan? 

And last but certainly not least I want to thank my lovely wife for going to all these races with me, sitting in the hot sun just to hand me a bottle of water, and telling me it doesn't matter what place I get just so long as I had fun.  And I did have fun, I really did!