Even knowing all that, plus the fact I had no hope of being in the front at the finish, I took off at the start like a dog chasing a squirrel. My water bottle popped out on the first rough clay road. Visions of Fools Gold danced through my head. I still had another one but 62 miles in 85 degree weather was going to be hard if I didn't stop at all the sags.
What in years past had been a pleasant roll through the south Georgia plantation country had turned into a blur of bikes, mud, and clay. There were crashes, team tactics, and absent sag stops. Unfortunately I only got to see about 18 miles of the "race" before I had had enough. The Bearded Tree Hugger (BTH) who I had been following looked over at me as we tried for what must have been the fifth time to get back on and said "I'm about done, how bout you?". "Screw em" I wheezed. We then began our own version of the "race". It still hurt.
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| The Bearded Tree Hugger sans shirt |
I owe the BTH for taking almost all the pulls on the way in. That being said I really didn't want to know the name of every freaking bird that chirped.
Anyhoo the after ride beers were great, as was the spaghetti. Complaints? Sure I always have a few. The path to the lunch sag was not marked. The last sag was not there (I was really counting on this one since I had only one bottle). Orange spray paint on orange clay is not the best way to mark a course.
There seems to be quite a bit of interest in these "dirty" type of road rides. I'd like to see some more pop up locally. Of course you can only be "World Champion" once.
3 years running, and I have yet to see the sag on TS Green. I heard the 2 years prior, it showed up after we had already passed through. I've heard no word on its existence at all, this year.
ReplyDeleteYou rode awesome this year. All that OMTP stuff has truly worked. I have to say, I was so blasted at out "favorite" hill, I was glad you were already gone. I would not have had the energy to attack this year.