But I Like It

The Flint River somewhere below Albany Ga.

I'm finally getting settled in after vacation.  It seemed to take a while this time.  The south in August can be trying.  But there was this:

The Social Event of the Season

Big Worm had a party, everyone who was anyone in the cycling community was in attendance.  It was an eclectic group.  Roadies sitting down with mountain bikers!  Next thing you know cats and dogs will be hanging out together.  I must have behaved since I didn't hear any stories to the contrary.

Wrecking Ball had told a story about beer and a bath robe so I modified a bottle of Sailor Jerry's Rum especially for him.  He couldn't resist.

A bottle of Sailor "Terry", specially modified for WB

The Kid Leaves (again)

Just when we'd gotten used to having him around he moved back down to Gainesville to start another year of school.  

The outside of The Kid's cabin in Gainesvile

Bikes were the first thing to get moved in

He was only down there 2 weeks, then he was back for:

The FSU SECCC Race at Tom Brown

Collegiate mountain bike racing starts early, like after the first week of classes early.  FSU hosted the first round this year so it was like a home race for The Kid.  He brought the whole team with him (all 2 of them) and they stayed with us.  It was fun to have that many young people in the house.  So much noise!

An unknown FSU rider negotiates the hairpin turn onto Cadillac 

They had a time trail on Saturday, then four cross (downhill bikes on the BMX track), and finally a short track.  Rain most of the day made for some slippery going, especially the four cross, which saw a couple of crashes.  They all got together at Tijuana Flats afterward.  And by that I mean all the teams got together.  There must have been 20 of them.  But they didn't invite me.

All I did was course marshall all day.  Glad to do it, but not much fun.

Alex leading the race

Sunday was the cross country.  UGA, FSU, Clemson, Auburn, UF, and Ga. Tech were represented.  It's a very relaxed atmosphere, no ya ya, just a bunch of kids having fun on MTBs.

Once again I was stuck out in the woods making sure the hikers and bikers didn't get run over.  I was as nice as I could be but some of those folks just wouldn't listen.  They have no idea how fast a MTB can go.

The Kid leading the Men's B

As I was directing traffic an FSU student says to me, "Man your grandson sure is fast" then he saw the look on my face "Oh, is that your son?  Sorry man, hey my dad looks old too, awww, you know what I mean".  It's those kind of comments that make you feel soooo good.  And yes, I did feel old among all those kids.

A young lady from Ga. Tech finds Cadillac a little difficult

It was all over by noon.  When I got back to the house it seemed so quiet.  Just The Lovely Wife, the cat, and me.  The night before those guys were so fired up about racing, so excited, telling race stories, laughing, eating garlic humus with garlic chips.  I'll admit to a certain level of envy (well for everything except the humus, it's still in the fridge).


I really have no business being envious.  I got to race moto for 40 years with a great group of guys. We traveled to races and trail rides with the same amount of enthusiasm as these kid have.  After I got into cycling I figured it could be the same with this sport.  But cycling seems to burn people out faster, or maybe it's just a function of getting older, or it could be me.

Anyhoo.

I wonder if the kids know how good they've got it?  Did we at that age?  When I was in college my roommate said "My dad said this would be the best time of my life.  If it gets any worse than this I'm gonna kill myself".  Of course, looking back, it was a great time.


Funny what being called grandpa will do to your head.