Road Trip

Yep, 2,679 miles of driving to the SE region of this magnificent nation! After panicking the day prior to departure over the tread on our car tires being worn thin, I sprung for a new set. One thing for the next vacation to repair will be the air conditioning too because let me tell you.....leaving a place like Duluth right now for TN & GA surely has a discrepancy in weather!!

So, let me begin by saying that we met some of the most hilarious and gracious people anyone could ask for. Kudos to Dave Holmes for putting together a top-notch event. This kid from what I was told by locals is fresh out of high school and could sit in as Jeremy Wariner's twin brother(minus the arrogance). A modest entry fee of $60 got you a mountain hardwear performance tee, smartwool socks, and pint glass to be filled often w/four kegs awaiting everyone on ice(it is the south). There was a field mowed down offering racers free camping. It had Panther Creek flowing alongside giving off an audible trickle that was almost therapeutic at night. Being directly across the road from the State Park he coned a loop through the campsites to give access to our pits. The course was quite buffed making the obvious lines of choice a given. Vast majority of it was singletrack except for a bit of horse trail early and late. Lots of turns during punchy climbs required sustainable muscling of the bike.

As for the competition, there were some tough guys present but just stuck to myself right from the le mans. I missed collecting my HR data since I had the monitor in TIMER mode instead of CHRONO. Oh well, the current # displayed but I didn't seem to take it into consideration. The first couple of laps had me going just under LT which I knew from experience would haunt me later. I settled in nicely and quickly found that the more time a person spent on this course the better the flow came. By laps six and seven I could tell the sun above was beating me and needed to assess my situation and think long term. Once again, this became the critical factor that I still need to improve upon as while out on lap eight I almost stopped to find shade and take a nap. Until I saw a black snake that had the girth of my forearm and probably five or six feet long warming itself in the rays on a rocky section of the trail. Watching it slither into the woods had me paranoid and wanting to talk to someone. Coming down from the north we don't see reptiles of this description and so don't have the knowledge to worry or relax. I would encounter two turtles in separate locations too which calmed my nerves. When I got back to Jen she forced me to sit as I wasn't looking very good and she grilled me when I couldn't find words to answer questions regarding what I might want or need. Even though she wasn't the one racing, her competitiveness is beyond mine and had I been there alone I guarantee I would have pulled the plug at the moment. I drank milk and took some sport leggs from our neighbors whom finished up their six-hour effort. Grazing on mostly nuts and fruit to that point I figured why not try something away from the norm. I slipped a position while spending 45 minutes in the chair debating whether to continue. Nothing seemed to be improving so I decided now or never because the clock is always ticking. Surprisingly, the pounding in my head subsided and energy levels were good again. It's amazing how just a little bit of the missing nutrition can bring a person back. Abstaining from caffeine this time near what I assumed would be my bell lap was part of the plan and tried refined sugars in its place. This worked really well and might consider taking candy slightly sooner in my next attempt. I got third among single speeders and received a certificate for a Kick Ass Cog from the Endless Bikes Co. Perfect award because I was looking to add to my arsenal. As darkness fell we got a pizza dude to deliver to our tent by shining him w/flashlights. We ate w/a group of guys to the other side of us and swapped great stories. During the middle of the race when I was near death the couple hanging out w/Jen gave us their personal info and wanted to treat us to what sounded like a bed & breakfast. We didn't accept but will definitely keep them in mind for Dirt, Sweat, & Gears next year. Luck would have it, a park ranger gave everyone permission to use the showers which is worth it weight in gold at the end of a day like this.

Other adventures during the vacation included hiking in Great Smokie Mountains National Park. Fog made it difficult to see much for most of our visit but was beautiful up close. We now understand where they got the name as it looks like there are wildfires spread out randomly in the valleys and peaks. Touring around Cartersville, GA w/Jen's Aunt & Uncle before heading home was fantastic and gave us the chance to eat some fine cooking...