CX, ST, TT, XC..............OH MY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, just like any family of four, our weekends stay pretty busy.  This past Saturday was our last CX practice and we had a great turn-out.  17 total with 4 women!!  Very cool!

 Kim and Holly came out to play.  These two have raced cross for several years and are a lot of fun to hang out with.

 Elizabeth and Lamar.  Lamar is one of the guys that makes the masters race so much fun to watch.  Those guys are truly the godfathers of cross.

 The speedy guys.

So, our Saturday morning practice consisted of a warm-up of a few laps, then two 20 minute 'race sessions' of pure hell, with a lovely break of something like 10 minutes in between.  Argh, that hurts!!

Here are some really cool videos that our friend, Jim Bailey has made from the practices.  He is really having fun learning how to make these things and they are pretty fun to watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kbxlmQYYMo&feature=share

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVWpQHTbJ_4&feature=share

 After CX practice Shey picked up the trailer from CTOWN Bikes and we packed to head up to the Georgia Single Speed Championships.  We wanted to make it there by the Short Track start at 4pm.

Napping whenever they can.

 As I said before, the short track was really a ton of fun.

We started on pretty steep gravel climb, pavement, a cool single track tunnel with a killer gradual climb, jump a curb straight onto a fun/short/steep descent, jump a curb, cross a road, hit the single track while descending at killer speed, back out onto a road, wide fast turn into gravel, flowy ride through dirt and gravel, down a group of stairs, hard turn left and up, jump at least two more curbs, then gradual climb up to hit the sand pit, steep descent down the leaf pile, then repeat.  What a blast I tell you!!

Faster Mustache had some great sponsors and Mike Stanley was there with his Niner demos and some yummy drinks.  I think Mike is there supporting just about every really fun event we ever attend!

 The night time trial was a lot of fun.  My NiteRider light has worked really great for several years now and makes the night rides about as awesome as they can get. The course was so fast that I think we all came off the trail severals times and at one point I was afraid I had turned myself around and was riding the course backward.  I rode slowly and saw a light through the trees.  Damn,  I thought it was coming right at me and I was riding the wrong way, so I yelled out.  The response was a bunch of guys screaming and cheering for me.  Hmmm, so I yelled again, "Brian?  Am I going the wrong way? "  He yelled, "No, come on down you are almost finished".  Then I thought, he probably doesn't know where the hell I am any more than I do, but  I kicked it in gear, anyway, (the only one I had) and sped into the finish and a trail full of goofy, happy guys.   The time trial went off at 9:00pm and I was cleaned up and ready for bed by 11pm.  Sweet!


Sunday morning was the XC race.  I think we started at 10:30 or 11:00.  Lisa, Becky, Sherri and I were there representing the ladies and the likes of Wild Bill, Thomas, Sven, lots of cool FM guys and the Lindner guys were there, too. 
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Eric explained the start by waving his arms around wildly in the air to show us vaguely where our parade loop would be.  Lisa responded with a bewildered, "wait where are we going?"  (she is an engineer you know, very organized)  Becky and I silently voted for two laps for those of us with tired legs, but no one really asked us, so we pedaled our way around the parade lap and hit the single track with a smile!  Becky slowly pulled away once we were on the dirt and I rode by myself for the first lap.  I rode with Sherri on the second lap and we talked and had a really good time. 

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A frothy beverage was offered to skip the lollipop and Sherri and I both thought that was a pretty smart idea.  I was just going to drink a little, but as soon as I took a sip, Sherri had downed the cup.  Yep, that meant I had to woMAN up!  Ugh and on an empty stomach, too.  It gave Sherri a boost of energy and made me struggle to find the trail.........I said farewell to Sherri, at the end of lap two (she was in a 2 lap category, lucky girlie) and headed out for the  most surreal third lap.  I don't remember the first few miles, then I starting coming back into focus during the middle miles, then had a really awesome time coming into the finish. 

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I was really happy to have completed the omnium.  I seriously doubted whether my legs would take the XC race after the intensity the day before.........ya know the older you get it just feels like you can ride at 80% forever, but it's that short intense stuff that hurts like ****!  So, I was grinning from ear to ear when I saw Shey at the finish line and I could say "I did it".

The awards were so much fun.  The Faster Mustache guys had a ton of swag to share and they had something cool to say about everybody that was there to race.  That makes it a pretty special event, in my book.

 Becky had raced the Jackrabbit 6/9 hour the day before.   I haven't looked, but she probably competed in the 6 hour solo, which means she is absolutely crazy (in a good way) to come out and race the very next morning on a SS.

Shey.

 Everett

 Jansen

 Me, Becky and Lisa

 Thomas, Wild Bill and Zach

So, after we got home on Sunday evening, I was too tired to drive Everett back up to KSU.  We decided to hang out at home and we would get up really early and head north before traffic hit.

In the meantime, Shey had a project on his mind.  Adam will get a kick out of this!!!

Hmmmmm, let's save this tape........................

And roll it onto a spool.........................................yep, seriously!

 So, the next morning, Everett and I left before 6am to head to his school.  It took us each two loads to get all his weekend stuff back into his apartment.   Then we had a really nice breakfast together, grabbed some groceries, (which is humorous, watching a college guy shop for food) then I dropped him off for the week.

After a nap in the back seat of my car, I ran some errands, then headed back home ( another 1 1/2 hours) to unpack the rest of the camping gear.

Yep, so that is what our weekends are like, except this one, at least, was in our home state...........whew!!

Georgia Single Speed Championships 2011 !!!!!!!!

First of all, condolences to those who missed this gnarly weekend of single speed awesomeness.  I have never raced a short track course that included ALL of the following:

1. stairs
2. multiple curbs-one followed by a cool-surprise descent
3. sand pit (while being cheered by the kids playing on the     playground)
4. thigh burning climb through the tunnel of pain
5. gravel
6.and a wicked descent where you whooped while you slid down through the leaves. 
7. oh, yeah there was boring old single track, too.

It was FREAKIN' AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The NIGHT time trial was da bomb! 

Just look at these satisfied customers........

Camping was great with sites overlooking the lake and hot showers.

And last but not least the xc race was mind numbing fast on a really fun course. 

Here is a peak at just HALF of the swag we brought home......
yep, that is a LEATHER koozie!  and endless bikes certificates for a free cog.

Huge thanks to Faster Mustache for putting on a top notch race that was challenging and a ton of fun. 

More details later, compression tights and elevated legs now.

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Interbike Fun 2011

Interbike wasn't all work, though.  I mean it IS in LAS VEGAS, man!

Cyling art:

Our Hotel.  I absolutely love ski ball and I remember playing it at this hotel, as a kid. 

The walk from Circus, Circus to the Interbike venue was just over a mile down Las Vegas Blvd.

There were some frightening shows..............

Cool new bikes to check out.....

A little bit of riding with friends in the cool morning air......

Shopping at Chrome for a new pair of shoes.......

That have cleats!!!

Outside the Venetian.  (yep, I made it into a photo)

We watched the Pirate show outside Treasure Island casino/hotel.

 This was our pirate ship.

 It sank.

 Then we saw the volcano erupt outside the Mirage.  (we watched from the balcony of the Venetian to avoid the crowds)

 We walked through the Venetian to get to the convention center.  This is actually inside the Venetian.  The ceiling is really cool and looks like the sky.

 Caesar's Palace

 One of the fountains in Caesar's Palace

 I think this was the Venetian, again.

So, even though we had a lot of work to do, we made sure to take a bit of time to play.  Now we just need a week or two to recoup!!

Ride for Reading at Interbike 2011

Jansen and I signed up for the Ride for Reading ride on Thursday morning.  Cyclists were delivering donated books to a nearby elementary school.   Matthew Portell organized the ride and he was really AMAZING!!!  Seriously a cool guy and a fourth grade teacher who loves kids!

It was cool to see people we knew getting ready for the ride.

I got a chance to catch up with Bruce and found out Krista has been traveling to the UCI races.  Which means she has a lot more UCI points and will have a much better lineup this next year!  Yea!!

J and I didn't have bikes, but Pivot Cycles came to the rescue and offered their fleet of demo bikes to us.  Awesome!

Lining up to hit the road.

The elementary school kids lined both sides of the route on the school grounds and we rode between them while they screamed and cheered for us.  It was very cool.

Taking the books into the building.

The kids choosing their books.

This group of ladies led the way on the route to and from the school.  They are a road team who maintains a average GPA of 4.1.  They talked to the students about keeping up their grades.

Matt talked about cycling safety and reading for fun.

We also saw Rich and  Dejay at the ride.  Not only did he ride the Divide this year, but he is planning something even crazier this next year, because Cananda to Mexico by bike just wasn't enough.  (It involves Australia and a many miles of riding into the barren terrain.)

Dejay and Jansen turning in our Pivot bikes.

What a great start to the day.  We all had so much fun and I think I saw Bruce shed a tear????

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