27 August 2103

 New post. Finally. Just back from 2 weeks in NH. Started with my 35th HS reunion, then 10 days of walking a powerline for work, and ended with D2R2 -- 110 miles of dirt road with 16k ft of climbing. Arrived back in Columbia with the realization that the only thing I really miss here is Tom. Four more years....

Boarding


Reuning with longtime neighbors Pete and Martha.


Recovery






Work--Blackberry season made the brambles a whole lot more bearable.












Rail trail action on my day off






Another day off




And D2R2, with many thanks to Bruce Rychlik for getting me through the day. 110 miles in 11 hours. Ouch.

6 May 2013

Photos from the Dirty Spokes 6hr race this weekend. Wet and muddy. I lost my brakes half way through my first lap, and then again half way through my second lap, and was reduced to tripod braking. It worked, but it wasn't much fun. I bailed after two laps. Tome raced with Mathew Stuart. They were the only junior Duo, so they won with one lap each. Very sweet.

Post race. Tom had already cleaned up a bit.


Podium!


Clothes when we got home. Nasty.

3 April 2013

Saturday I finally put the full CRP 200 together, starting not far from my house and looping north into the piedmont. A little dirt, a few historic sites, a Waffle House for lunch. Looking forward to making it an official permanent. Fun.

Entering Ridgeway.


Near the second control.


The confounded bridge


Second breakfast


A road to nowhere


Unless you count this as somewhere


Just after the hike-a-bike.


This would make an interesting rail trail


Serpentine stone wall on the right. Gonna have to figure out how to get a pic.


Not a ride without a cemetery


Control #3 near the nuclear plant. Desolate. And potentially unreliable--they were closed for the entire Easter weekend.


Accessing the Palmetto trail to cross the Broad River


First lunch


Palmetto trail. Nice. This is the halfway point, and what I built the route around.


Second lunch.


Second cemetery. Because two is better than one.


A little climb at mile 90.


Gonna have to work on this pic as well


A PED at Control #5 mile 110 for the final push


And done. Mile 127 and change. Now to get it RUSA Approved.

26 March 2013

Raced the Love Valley Roubaix on Sunday. Billed as 50 miles of sexy. I love how Blue Mountain Revival Productions comes up with these tag lines.


Drove up Saturday, though, so I could spend some time at the Museum of Mountain Bike Art and Technology (MOMBAT), which rocked the house.







Love this Scorcher. Made it easy to pick my favorite from amongst all the bling.






After the museum I drove out to the venue just to get a look. Very unique, to say the least.


Then after dinner and a quick walk around downtown, it was back to the motel for some quality time with the bike.




The next morning the promised weather came through. Mid 30s and raining. Perfect day for a bike race. Needless to say I didn't take many pics. Too bundled up to reach the camera, which would have gotten as sodden as the rest of me anyhow. A highlight was coming down from the first big climb in freezing rain. That shit HURTS!. And less than 100ft of visibility up there in the clouds as well.




The only pic I've found so far....


The gravel was very soft. Tough conditions. About 45% of the field DNFed on the day. I finished 14th, 50 minutes off the front. The biggest gap in front of me was 8 minutes, while the next guy was 45 minutes behind me. I'll take it.




Post-ride laundry. Washed it all twice.