I headed back towards Nashville on the way back through Chattanooga, and finally wound up at Six Flags White Water in Atlanta on Monday morning. I met my friends Paula and Jessica there, rode some slides, worked on my tan (well, depends on whose idea of a "tan" you use, haha), and had a blast. After saying goodbye to those lovely ladies, I met up with Clint again. It has been awesome to hang out with him so much over the last couple months. Between the Dick Lane Velodrome in Atlanta, and having Clint down there...I really don't have an excuse to be away from there too long, hahah!
So, Tuesday had more Track racing in store, and Clint and another friend Josh were psyched to check out the action. We raced the Kilo and a 4k pursuit, and both went very well. I made a couple mental notes about each event, and was really welcomed into the Track racing circle that night by a number of the racers in attendance. Two of the better riders asked me to race with them in the Team Sprint at the end of the evening, which was a huge compliment, and an even more hugerer learing experience. WOW! Track racing is a BLAST!!! I think I wound up with the 3rd fastest Kilo time (even though I was CRAAAAZY spun out with the wrong gear), and the 2nd fastest 4k. The 4k pursuit will more than likely prove to be my bread and butter...5 minutes of P-A-I-N......
Wednesday morning arrived, and I was on the road to Naples. The drive was long, but some rockin jams kept me psyched. On the way, I got a text from Talayna asking if I liked Craig Morgan (the country singer)....my response..."DUH!?!!" She had scored a couple tickets from a friend at work, and we'd be hanging out at a kick ass concert in a few hours =) I made it into Naples in time to catch the last half hour of her workout at Crossfit Redline. The owner Anthony DiSarro was there, and it was awesome chatting with him! He and his wife Alison treated Talayna and I to dinner before the concert, and we all had a fantastic time. First night in Naples, and the bar had been set pretty high =)
Thursday may or may not have involved some Triathlon training, and me kicking Talayna's ass on a cargo net climb...the jury is still out on that one...
Friday I headed down to Fort Lauderdale to race at the Florida Elite State Track Cycling Championships (wow, that's a mouthfull!) in the flying 200m, then the match sprints...not exactly my specialty, but...gotta get better somehow. Wound up cutting almost a second off of my flying 200...I think I wound up 7th...
Winding up to speed in turn 2 before hitting the line for the start of the Flying 200m
Exiting turn 4 at close to 40mph and approaching the finish of the flying 200m
Playing the tactical games during the match sprints
My AWESOME cheering section!! =)
Friday's track session ended pretty late, but not so late that I couldn't enjoy a meal with Aunt Mary, and my uncles Tom and Steve. Heck, I even had time to drive up to Boca Raton and hang out with Jamie Bennett for a couple hours! What a great day!
Saturday arrived, and Jamie and I got coffee and bagels before going to his sister Andrea's house to visit with her and their mom, Pat. Another couple great hours spent visiting with some of the best folks around =) Next, I'd be joining Uncle Steve and my Grandma for lunch down in Ft Lauderdale, and that lunch turned into another couple hour visit with 2 people I wish I could see more frequently. And, finally, it was time to hammer out another race on the track on Saturday night. This time, it was gonna be a little more than a minute of pain...The KILO... Well...lets just say that the legs weren't fond of what I was asking them to do, and they pretty much told me to go "bleep" myself precisely 1 lap into the 3 lap race...cue extreme pain and sufferring for the 50 seconds that followed my nuclear explosion...I called it a night, and decided that burning the candle from all 12 ends was probably gonna be my undoing before the trip was over. So, I watched the Points race from trackside before heading back up to Boca to hang with Jamie for the night...
This was the points race I bailed on. What you are watching is 2 guys sprint for 1st and 2nd, while the rest of the group hammers into the home stretch for 3rd. There is a sprint like this every 5 laps, and the race was 60 laps total...
Sunday would start with meeting the WHOLE Florida family for church followed by brunch, and that was a really special treat. It is so rare for me to see so many of my Aunts, Uncles, and cousins!!! So that was very cool. After brunch, I spent some more time hanging out with Uncle Steve before getting back on the road to Naples. I pretty much went straight to the beach, then was treated to an amazing dinner at Anthony and Alison DiSarro's. Wow, do they know how to COOK!!! What a production, thank you just doesn't seem sufficient. WOW.
OK, the conclusion of the trip will follow shortly... ;)
