Thanksgiving with the Joneses

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year with good friends. Nancy took care of the Turkey and most of the side dishes and the Lindner's.....well, we showed up and ate. Everett made a killer apple pie!



Pre-Thanksgiving Dinner Ride.

The roads around Athens are great for long miles. Adam and Nancy have some really great routes that we have enjoyed.

It's so nice to have such awesome friends.

We got to watch several friends in the Cross Nationals video from 2007. The DVD was released this month and watching it was like playing "Where's Waldo". Oscar, Jim, Torre, Kristen, Kim, Kara, Brendan and Jimbo were in there, but they missed Jansen. Maybe he was too fast or he was down on the iced-over mud.

Thanks again to Adam and Nancy for embarking on this crazy Cyclocross Series thing with us and for your continued friendship and support.

2008 Cyclocross State Championships at Yargo

The course for the GA State Cyclocross Championships was awesome. Fast road, twisty dirt, deep sand, barriers and logs. The weather was wonderful and good friends were all around. The Master races, Womens A and Mens A races were very exciting with blistering speed and sprint finishes.



I got to hang out with Molly, which made it a perfect day!




Everett raced juniors 15-18. He and Jansen tried to catch Shey, who had the 2 minute lead-out.









Jansen flyin' through the juniors 14 U race.


Kindle rockin' the Women's B race.

Shey in the Single Speed race.

Shey's podium for SS.



Everett podium.

Jansen podium.

Mulberry Gap

A few weeks ago, the boys and I headed up to the mountains for a ride.







The temps were to be 32 - 34 degrees. So, we loaded up on cool weather gear.









We parked at Mulberry Gap and the ladies offered to make us lunch when we got back. http://www.mulberrygap.com/






The ride started right from the cabins, then up Pinhoti 2. I was stripping off layers before we even hit the trail, since there was no wind. The weather was GREAT!! Leaves covered the trail, so it's a surprise when you hit those rocks that you can't see. (keeps things interesting)











All the climbing in the area is totally worth it to bomb those downhills!!







After the ride, we hit the hot tub, then the showers.







When we got out, our cheeseburgers were ready. We got to visit with the local dogs and the owners for awhile. Good discussions about mtb and cyclocross over hot cocoa and cookies.








Great times with my two favorite guys!

Hodge Didn't Cry

Hodge was in a crazy motorcycle accident and his friends surrounded him because of the amazing guy that he is. BOD decided to put together a ride to help him with medical costs and tons of people showed up to help out. Everywhere I walked, people were talking about how cool this guy is. How there is no one like him and how he helps out anyone, anytime, without question. Coolest thing to see. It's just comin' back around and that rocks.

Aimee and I had breakfast, but there were no decent places to eat, so we hit Golden Corral. You know how freaky we are about dirty hotels and cafes.......

This was Aim's third plate.....I'm just sayin'





Then we met Molly and Linda at Yargo for a ride in the morning.

Mo - looking like Darth Vader.






After a lap we hooked up with Kate and Alison for more. Remember when Linda taco'd her wheel at Cohutta right before we hit the trail and those guys beat the rim on a tree to straighten it out enough for her to ride?????? Well, she was on Andy's bike today and ....... cracked the frame, majorly.

Linda before the cracked frame.


Cracked frame starting the second lap.

Wondering how she is going to break this one to Andy.


Most of the founders of Sorella are still hanging out and riding together. Kirsten showed up later and Jennifer is in Virginia, now. Let me explain about Kirsten..... she showed up at 1:40 for the 12:00 ride because she is in a different time zone. That is what happens when you are not from this universe. We will get her one of those really big plastic watches that glows in the dark so she will be better prepared.

Me, Aimee, Linda, Kate, Molly and Alison. Yep, we just wanted our friends to have a place to get together and discuss cycling and coordinate for safe rides. Wow, that kind of worked out pretty well thanks to these ladies.

Shey and the boys came out to ride. Then, Shey headed off to Rome to help set-up for the cross race tomorrow. The boys and I will probably head to the moutains for some apples and bear creek fun.

Funniest thing was watching these ladies compare collar bone scars. Tracey can now take Brandon's nickname...Lumpy, Molly is pointy and Linda has a lumpy-point? Flatfender left because his scars just could not compare. Tracey has some really pretty fingers, too!


Hodge is an amazing guy and there is not enough we can do to repay him for all his help in the cycling community. Thanks for everything man!

Georgia Cyclocross 2008

The boys and I were in Oregon for the first race, but they raced Savannah and Conyers. Both had a great time and Shey is enjoying doubles.

Jansen leading the B's. Richie and Jimbo pushed hard. Jim came around for the win. Jansen 2 Richie 3.

Everett, Matt and Cameron at the start of the C's in Conyers. It was great to have the three of them out there together and Everett had a great time. Matt took the win, Everett ended up in fourth and Cameron hammered around the course like he could do it all day long! All three turned around and raced the Junior race, as well.

Everett over the barriers in the C's. Fulton Flyers are rockin' the team series competition. There is a ton of talent and hard work out there in blue and white.

Shey riding through the "vortex" he created at Conyers.

We are trying our best to back off from directing the series. The Lindners and Joneses are burned out and need to enjoy racing again for a bit. Hopefully we can get to that point by the end of next year, at the latest.

Progression of a cyclist.....Everett

I wish we had a digital camera before 2005 to show the boys racing.

Everett was so small trying to lift his bike over those cross barriers and he would hang on to a tree during the xc races to get a drink.

Quint and Everett always has a great time racing cross together. We got to travel to UCI events together and hang out at the same hotel. It was great fun.

Everett at Hawkes Creek. In the GAP days.

BUMP in 2005

Cycle Youth with Christian F., James, Ben, Charlie, Stephen, Andy, Jansen and Everett. Ethan was off swinging in the trees. 2005

He's taller now and gets over the barriers quite a bit quicker....2008 Conyers.

2007 RR GA State Championships. He worked hard for first and his grandparents were there to watch him.

San Felasco 50 mile xc ride with the familly, 2008.

He keeps us laughing and is a ton of fun to road trip with!

16 this year. Man, it has flown by.

Tons Happening and no time to write

This is always a very busy time of year so there is a lot to catch up on:

We are totally jazzed that Tristan Cowie WON collegiate xc and st! Huge congrats, man. Lots of stars and stripes in the south this year. This couldn't have happened to a cooler guy.


Gainesville 6 hour race was a good time. Shey and the boys did a three man team and I did solo-kind-a. It was a fun and fast course. No elevation change or technical stuff...which was awesome for fall fun. The leaves were changing and it was cool, but not cold. Couldn't ask for better.






We signed up in hopes of seeing Hodge after his accident, but it rained during the week and the wet grass was a bit scary, so he didn't stay long and we missed him. Hope to catch him soon.



Norma and Johnny rocked the house, as usual.





Jansen picked up some bamboo to plant. That was hilarious! Who knew bamboo was so freakin' hard to dig up?!?




Everett's Jack-o-lantern for 2008.




Everett was the traditional scare crow. This is his third year and we thoroughly enjoy watching all the reactions he gets. The funniest were the two older men who were totally creeped out and couldn't stop staring. Good times! Especially since he sticks a straw through the burlap mask to drink his iced coffee!







Everett has been blacksmithing.



The boys are making me a scythe for the backyard. They have spent a ton of time sharpening this thing. Jansen created the handle.

It's kit ordering time for our teams. I got the Sugoi stuff to PTB for Sorella try-ons. Getting the wrinkles ironed out, then we'll be ready to order. Hope to be done by Christmas. FFCC - working on the kits - the guys are going with different colors this next year.

Sorella put on the Conyers Cyclocross race this weekend. We had great volunteers and the racers had a good time. The drum-line that came out from our local high school was awesome. Lot's of costumes and baked goodies. We definitely need to improve, but we are learning from our mistakes.

Shey raced SS and A's, Everett raced C's and Juniors and Jansen raced B's. They all were strong today, but course set-up always shows up the next day and they were wiped in the end.