So the last month has proven to be a whirlwind of truly epic proportions, and the timing could not have been more catastrophic to my fitness, hahaha! Oh well, such is life. What doesn't kill you, might put a few extra pounds on you and will more than likely make you go slower than you want to while riding your bicycle up any hill that measures more than a pedal revolution or two in length especially when said hill is covered with dirt and littered with rocks and roots and leaves and bugs and the occasional snake...but I digress...what was I saying again???!!? Oh yes...too much fun and not enough time on the bike has taken its toll on me lately, so here's what you might have missed:
The trip of Epicness ended in epic fashion, and a vacation of epicness began in much the same way only days later. After covering 3,000 miles in my Vanborgini, and riding sporadically in the meantime, I arrived in Chattanooga just in time to get one day of rest before participating in the Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon as part of a 3 person relay. But not before joining my dad and Sean McCombs out at my favorite trail in the Chattanooga area the day before ;) That was RAD, and I was psyched to be back in the city I call home...
So, race day arrives, and I join my AWESOME team mates Dana and Dianna to complete the last component of TEAM D.D.T. We had one goal in mind, and that goal was to CRUSH the competition in the 'Mixed (or co-ed) Relay Division' as we breezed through the 1.5k swim, 42k bike, and 10k run - in and on the banks of the Tennessee River in the heart of Downtown Chattanooga. Dana lined up with 1,124 other participants, completely annihilated the swim, and was one of the first 5 athletes out of the water. I SUFFERED through the bike but managed the 3rd fastest split of the day. For all my bike geek friends out there...the numbers looked a little like this...25.1mph for 1:02:24, @187bpm, 315w avg, and spun 93rpms on a HOT, HILLY, and WINDY ass kicker of a ride...and it hurt really, really badly. So, we were solidly in second place at the last transition, and Dianna hammered out the run to place us 3rd overall across the line, and well ahead of our closest competitors in the Mixed Relay division, YEE HAWWW! Winning is always freakin' awesome, hahah =) The Waterfront Tri is always very well attended, and I truly believe that is a testament to a couple of things going on here...#1 is the incredible venue but #2 is the real reason...It is a FIRST CLASS event with a BAJILLION volunteers who are psyched to sweat their @$$es off to provide the best race possible to the 1,000+ racers year after year. What an awesome event. Thanks to all who helped make it a huge success!
pre-race check in
T minus a few minutes till game time
Winning
The tri was followed by a ride or two in Chattanooga before I loaded up the kids and grandparents en route to gracing the fine cities of Maryville, Charlotte, and Isle of Palms (Charleston) with our presence, hahaha! I'll let the pictures tell the story...
a final ride or two in Chatty before the vacay
Ro, Wiley, and cousin Lizzie
well, at least it's PG for now. I wish she'd never grow up
Last day, family pic
love this girl
"Silly hair in my face." -Ro
ready for day 2 (IIRC).
Ro is impossible. She will NEVER cooperate, haha
Ro and Gramaw
Papaw and the munchkins
Ro and her ponies waiting for dinner to arrive at Poe's Tavern
Wiley KILLED the waves
can you tell we're having fun?
YES!
after countless hours in the waves...I was spent. Wiley...not so much
The "Creature" and the damsel in distress
Mom and me =)
Vacation was a blur, and by the first day of August, I was back at work. But the day before I returned, I got an invitation to lend a helping hand at the USA Cycling U23 Mid South Development Camp. I dropped what I was doing and jumped at the chance to spend a day with some great friends, meet a few new ones, and get to ride with some of the future stars of our sport. I think working with kids who love their sport is one of the most rewarding experiences ever. I've felt that way ever since my days coaching track and field as far back as the late 90's. Love seeing kids giving their all!
Studs. The. End.
Bibko bringing up the rear in his National Champions kit =)
The whole U23 crew
Very cool memento. Got it in the mail a few days later. Thanks you guys!
Seeing all my friends a co-workers at school was refreshing, and I can honestly say that I was excited about the start of the school year. However, somehow, my bicycles began collecting dust. I recall less than half a dozen rides between the Triathlon at the beginning of July and the first weekend of August, and the month prior to that...hardly any different.
Got my personal library ready with a couple days to spare
in another couple days, the tranquility of my classroom will be...uhhh...gone?
squeezed in some fun in the sun at the Aquarium with the kiddos
My days were filled with work and kids, and I wasn't making much of an effort to mash on the pedals. In the meantime, however, I DID manage to have some memorable times with some of my favorite Chattanooga peeps, and met a few new favorites in the process. I might have squeezed in an appearance at Nightfall, and stayed out far too late that first weekend of August...after all, I knew that my fitness lacked something to be desired, and there was no reason to waste an entry fee on the State Championship Road Race in Oak Ridge the following morning at 8am...
Marianna is always one of my favorite peeps to hang out with in Chattanooga. Nightfall was no exception =)
Paula and I arrive at Fontana Village Resort to discover that they had given us (and Shannon) the Sweethearts' Suite, hahah! It was actually pretty pimpin' ;)
Lap one, feelin' good, and already on cruise control
Lap 2 (I think)and still feeling aight.
Exiting the woods for the final time on lap #3 and I pretty much wanna sit down and sh!t myself, haha, I was toast. geeesh! NO. FITNESS...
another win for the Cysco Cycles MTB Team! #7 for the year on the SS.
Remnants of the carnage of Fontana...4 days out I think...
6 days out...I think this was from the 2nd time I went over the bars (4 major crashes, 6 total, haha).
More work the following week, and then my parents arrived in Chattanooga for a weekend visit. Back to school shopping with the kids was a hoot at Wally World, and Wiley seemed pretty psyched to start the year as a 2nd grader come Monday. I figured that busting it out to Nashville for the State MTB Championships was a good idea for Sunday, and I was excited to spend some time with the Cysco Team. We lined up 6 guys and were really hoping for some good luck to roll our way. After all...I had tallied 31 wins over the last 3 seasons and was still without a state title of ANY kind. Luck was never on my side at any of the state races I had lined up in. Some had ended with ambulance rides to the ER, while others were tainted with mechanical failures, and poor equipment choice...but the fact remained that I had had never won a state title on a bicycle...ever. Oh well. This particular weekend was no exception. Within the first 18 minutes of the race, my handlebars had come loose (stem faceplate literally just started to rattle around!?!?!) and I had no tools to fix it. I packed a tube and enough CO2 to inflate a blimp, but I didn't pack a multi-tool. 20 minutes later, with handlebars dangling by now, Joe Grubbs finally rolled by and hooked me up with the magic number...I simply rolled back to the car (I'd already cut the course two dozen times with all the switchbacks, and just wanted to get back to the car and see the finish). Oh well...I was not alone. Out of the 6 Cysco riders, 4 of us had race-ending mechanicals. bummer.
That was Sunday, and the kids were to return to school the following day. I was actually pretty psyched =)
I decided that any kid who chose NOT to laugh AT LEAST once during the first week was gonna get mean mugged like never before...they all smiled ;)
The first week of classes went flawlessly, and I was excited to get a ride in on Tuesday with a good friend, hang with another one that evening, and start planning my weekend ASAP. My weekend may, or may not, have involved 80's music, Karaoke, and awesome time with more awesomer people. Definitely a weekend to remember. I am already looking forward to the next one. No doubt about it.
Tuesday mtb ride after work...YES, those are my dress socks, hehehe =)
decisions, decisions...
1980's...I love you.
Well, it is late, and that was "LOTS OF WORDS." My creativity abandoned me about 2 hours ago, so I'll apologize for the monotonous drone that became that posting, haha. Next time, I'll keep it short and interesting, I promise...
=)
