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| Ric climbing the run-up at Dade City CX |
I've done sooooo many interesting things since we last were together. I'll avoid the usual Christmas stuff (you're welcome) and just cover the 2 wheel adventures. Which started with:
Golf Bike
Five of us met at the Greater Havana Golf and Country Club to demo the new Golf Bike Higher Ground is making. We got a lot of stares and questions as we unloaded and headed for the first tee.It took a little getting used to. The frames are step through and the clubs sit in a rack behind you. But on the second fairway, headed downhill after we left the tee box, I looked over at Tim Shank, The Kid, Todd, and Kenny, to see big goofy grins all around as we rolled down the fairway.
I wasn't very well prepared and had only brought one six pack which we went through rather quickly. Todd hadn't put the cup holders on ("I would have put them on if I'd known we were going to drink beer" duh) so holding the bottle while pedaling became part of the challenge. Thank goodness they have small coolers on them.
Tim and I lost. But it was sure fun. I was tired, when you shoot in the 90's you end up getting on and off the bike a lot. I foresee a golf bike tournament sometime in the future.
Then there was the:
Hangover Hare Scrambles
Held annually for at least 17 years this is a moto event. The local off road moto club, Tallahassee Trail Riders, picks a spot and holds impromptu "races" on New Years day. This year they were back at Southern Raceway in Bainbridge Ga. and I had decided to grace them with my presence.
As I dug my riding gear out of the shed and brushed the dust and cobwebs off, I realized it had been at least 3 years since I'd put this stuff on. I planned to borrow a bike from some poor soul to take a couple of easy laps. Unfortunately it was raining and 55 degrees, not very conducive to a ride on Georgia clay. I went anyway.
The crowd was small but I got to see some familiar faces. I happen to be an icon (although retired) in the local off road scene and it caused quite a stir when I showed up in the pits. While putting on my gear I was reminded how heavy and bulky moto gear is. In my rush to leave I had inadvertently picked up The Kid's helmet which is 2 sizes too small so I looked like a chipmunk with my cheeks poking out.
A rider much older than I let me borrow his KTM 350 for my return to moto. To say I was nervous would be an understatement. These bikes are BIG. I could barely touch the ground when seated. Good thing for electric start cause I never could have kicked it over. I had trouble even getting it into gear as I wasn't used to the thick boots and it kept stalling. This seemed to provide much amusement to those in attendance.
When I finally got it underway it all came back to me. To be able to just twist the throttle and have it jump, to be able to take my feet off the pegs and stick my leg out to turn, to lean it over and roll on the gas, to grab the front brake and forget it's not the back brake like on my MTB. Damn the brake was sensitive. I almost stood it on the front wheel. Thank goodness I was still on the grass when I did it.
I took a partial lap of the single track, almost got stuck on a root, had the back end slide around a couple of times, and resisted the urge to jump a small table top. I had a blast. No, I'm not headed for Craigslist to get one. But I can picture getting back into a form of moto sometime in the future.
Then I went bicycle racing:
Dade City Cyclocross
Tim, Ric and I got up at 3:30 Saturday morning and drove the 4 hours down to Dade City Fl. That was definatly the hard part of the weekend. Getting up that early, eating on the road, plus many cups of coffee caused much gastric distress in our group. Finding proper facilities became a challenge. I won't go into anymore detail than to say when having a conversation from the stall, make sure you know it's your buddy that you're talking to. It makes it a little uncomfortable when you exit only to find the room is full of total strangers that have been waiting for you to finish and you've just let them in on the details of the job you just completed. |
| Another picture of me with my big goofy "Hey I'm racing CX" grin |
Anyhoo, the track was great, very technical, for me anyway. I love CX racing. They had a run-up up a dirt hill which they'd built crude steps into. You had to climb with your bike on your shoulder. Much fun was had.
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| Ric in the sand section at Dade City |
I got second in class on Saturday and after dropping a chain through the barriers, fourth on Sunday.
After Ric finished his race Tim commented on some dirt on his arm.
Tim: "Did you crash?"
Ric: "Nah that's just from shouldering the bike"
Tony: Rides up and says "Man Ric, did you eat shit in the barriers!"
Ric: With a puzzled look on his face "Yea, I guess I did, I didn't remember it till you said something"
That must be what it's like to be fast, crash and not even notice.
Finish
Sorry that was so long, I'm really surprised you got this far, I usually don't read long blogs. Anyway, San Felasco is this weekend, as of right now they've got an 80 percent chance of rain. We'll see how it looks Saturday morning. Then there's the State CX Championships the following weekend. I'm tempted about going.I started the second phase of the OMTP 2.0 and with my new Garmin to beep at me all the time I'm enjoying it. I can't believe the Georgia State Series starts again in March. Man time flies.
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