Weekend Update

It's Mr. Bettini to you people...

That's right, The Cricket won the Worlds, again...! He's a bad MF.

Okay, now onto my pre-nap update.

Saturday met a smaller group than we've had lately, but it was chilly (64...). We did the tried and true Eastover loop, but went down Ridge and up Harmon this time. The ride stayed together and relatively slow all the way to 378. Once we hit Chaingang, the speed increased. Gradually at first though...

We had a nice, conservative 40-42kmh paceline working, everyone was doing their part, and then it happened. I pulled through, Dr. LP pulled through and Der Kaiser hit the front. He drilled it like he was looking for oil. We went from 42kmh to 55kmh in about 100 meters. Did I mention that Dr. LP and I were still hung out in the left line? Thankfully, Mrs. Der Kaiser let us in just before the pace went to 60kmh. RW kept it @ 60, LP pulled through at 60 and led out the sprint. I hit the 12 and think I actually went backwards. Der Kaiser got me at the line by half-a-wheel. Note to self...stay in the 13!

Anyway, the pace stayed high down to the Cricket Store, on Bluff and all the way to the GMart.

Trez sat up and looked like hammered shit, so I sat up with him in an effort to rally him on to the store. After two long pulls into the headwind at 40kmh, he was gone again.

I TT'd to the store, trying to keep my wattage @ 285-300. I did it, but it stung a bit. I should have said F him and stayed in the group. Doogie/Ballpeen was driving the pace and it evidently was hurting some folks. Get yours now you little shit. Next spring, when your ass is stuck at the hospital, working 18 hour days, I'll be riding!

After the re-group, we rode piano back up Horrell Hill, through the Fort and home. I ended up with 100km and was ti-red when I hit the door.

This morning, I did a SLOW loop of the Fort by myself. The H.O. and the management trainees are gone for the day, so I got in some much needed bike maintenance. The cross bike hadn't been cleaned since coming back from the beach...sorry! The Ridley's drivetrain was looking kind of crusty, so it got a scrub.

Now, I'm going to crawl into bed, turn on the NASCAR race in HD and sleep through it...

Edit: Il Professore had a bad weekend. Saturday, he got hit by a full Gatorade bottle thrown from a passing car. Sunday, he stood up on a climb and sheared the axle of his Look Keo pedal. He crashed pretty heavily, but nothing is broken...other than the pedal that is...

TNCWC crash update

Philip (the rider formerly know as Osama Bin Ridin) broke his wrist in the prang...

It's a sexy red cast. I'm sure all the chicks in his MAT program are giving him the attention he needs...! Broken bones and college chicks...seems almost worth it!

(Thanks to RW for the pic)

Maybe the last?

7 of us showed for the Thrusday ride last night. It was a short affair and it wad dark when I rolled into the yard @ 7:30.
The 7 of us were all of like ability and speed, which is rare for late September, so the ride was smooth and quick. We did a very abbreviated loop through the Fort, down Horrell Hill and back in on Airbase.
The pace was quick and stayed quick for the entire ride. Being chased by darkness makes one ride a bit harder.

I'll probably ride next Thursday, but I won't leave the safety of the Fort. It's time to break out the lights...sigh...

See you in the morning. It'll be cool @ 8, so break out the base layer and armwarmers...

TNCWC

Last night was a fast and furious evening of racing...and crashing at the Tuesday Worlds. The first couple of laps were positively sedate, then all hell broke loose. I don't know who decided to attack, but the pace shot to 45kmh+ immediately...and according to my PT, it stayed there for about 35 minutes. Breaks went and got pulled back pretty quickly. There was just too much horsepower for anything to get away last night. There wasn't a whole lot of ebb and flow. It was lined out throughout the race. The very few times the pace slackened, it lasted for about 1/2 of a lap. Just enough time to close gaps and move up a bit, before the shit hit the fan again.
Several people came out last night with the plan to just drill it. More were hanging on for dear life. Unfortunately, I was one of the latter. I just wasn't feeling it last night. Heavy legs, lack of motivation and what feels like another strain of chest cold do not a good ride make.

About 1/2 way through the 45 minutes, one of Sundaedae's juniors decided to take himself out. He fell out of the race and was trying to get back in. He looked right and swerved left, hit the sand and the gutter and wound up on his head. I don't think he was hurt, but Dr. LP told him to go get his wrist checked.
The second prang happened on the penultimate lap. Kevin lost a back tire and took down a few. The beauty of the crash was the fact that Kevin bunnyhopped the curb, rode thru the grass, down the other curb, across the other side of the road and ended up in the grass in front of the firehouse. All in all, he made it about 30 meters before finally ending up in a pile. Mark, Mandrus and Philip wound up in the median. Philip just loves to crash in turn four. It's the second time in 4 weeks and the third time in two seasons. Mark came out the worst. No bones were broken, but he had ripped shorts and a skinned ass. Road rash on the buttcheeks in an evil adversary. I'm willing to bet he didn't sleep much last night...

We may have to move up to 6:15 and shorten to 40 minutes. It was DARK when we rode in last night.

Overall, I felt like the bug last night, as opposed to the windshield. Just felt bad all the way around...and worked too much in the beginning. Taking pulls in the first 20 minutes is just dumb.

Sammy beat Doogie/BallPeen in the sprint, BTW.

Mario Aerts is harder than you

A Belgian hardman in the truest sense of the word. 20th in the Giro,70th in the Tour and 28th in the Vuelta..that's right, he did the triple. Only the 25th to EVER do it...badass!

50%

One out of two ain't bad...
The Saturday ended up being the biggest 8 a.m. group we've had for a LONG time. We all assembled and then rolled out through the fog. It was like riding in Ireland. Visibility was maybe 200 yards as we crested the hill at Hilton Field. It kind of kept everyone together on the way off the Fort though.
We did the long Eastover loop, which includes that long, languid ribbon of black gold that is called Chaingang. On the run out Old Leesburg and up to 378, the pace was very moderate. Either that or I was feeling good, considering we went up the long climb @ 33 kmh. A few stragglers we're off the back, including Der Kaiser. He was damaged goods for the first 2/3 of the ride. It seems that he and the Mrs. consumed mass quantities of alcohol the night before.
Once on Chaingang, we waited for the stragglers. Well, most of us waited...
It seems Doogie, NID, Mrs. Der Kaiser and one other decided to make a break for it. Once the main group got together, the chase was on. We were rolling through just fine @ 48kmh when Reed decided to kill it. I looked down and the PT said 55kmh. Once he rolled off, the pace dropped back down. The gap to the front four was still 250 meters with about a km to go to the town limit sign. I hit the front at @ 500 and just pegged it. We didn't make the catch, but Cisco and I blew by at 60kmh shortly after the sign.
The pace stayed around 40kmh all the way to the GMart. Everyone behaved themselves on Cabin Creek and down Old Hopkins. The normal 'over the tracks' attack went on the back side of Double Homey. I chased across to the attacking group of 4 and then bridged across to Cisco.

Once we got through the light on Shop, the leadout for the sprint was on. Il Professore took a long, damn fast pull, then Philip pulled. I let Philip back in line, but Mark and Cisco were nailing it on the overpass. Philip let a gap open @ 1km, which took a small, yet painful moment to close. I let Cisco hit the gas first and then came around him right at the bridge at 65kmh. I did just enough to win the sprint. I couldn't drop it in the 12, so I was WAY on top of the 13.

It was a great ride. It's always nice to have a big group that has ridden together alot. I got home with 95km and just under 3 hours of ride time. The H.O. was shopping with her sister and the management trainees, so I had some pizza and took a nice nap! Saturday was a good day! I felt good, rode well and seem to be getting this cold out of my system. I did exactly what I planned to do on the ride.
I've been trying to shame my brother into coming back across the river to ride, but Lexington has it's hooks in him. I guess riding with a bunch of fat gapers does have it's advantages.

No ride today. I got up and got a message from Doogie that he wasn't going to ride, so I slept in a bit. The H.O. and I loaded up the boys and all of the shit that goes along with them, and went to the zoo. Another good day was had by all...! Nothing fills a 2 year old with excitement like watching an elephant poop.

See you @ the TNCWC. It'll be shorter because of the daylight, or lack thereof...

Don't tase me...

The little asshole deserved it...

Drizzly and The Planet of the Squirrels

I talked to Doogie right a 5 and he said he was going to ride if it wan't raining. I rolled to the Fort and while I was waiting, seemingly in vain, Der Kaisers rode by and said they were doing a loop. I tagged on and we rode out. Philip joined us at Hilton Field and we did a slow, reverse loop in the pissy rain. It wasn't raining in the truest sense of the word. It was more like a hanging mist that was just enough to spot your glasses and render them useless.

It was a nice ride with pleasant conversation and I ended with 1:45 and 50k. I was pretty stiff when I left the house, but felt better when I got home, even though we rode in the wet.

Now on to the squirrels...

I'd been hearing scratching and squeeking coming from behind the wall, just above the fireplace. It seems the yard rats had discovered a hole, up high, beside the chimney, and proceeded to make it large enough to pass through. After a couple of days of this, I decided I wasn't having glorified rats living inside the wall all winter. I went to Lowes and got a can of that expanding foam and filled the hole. Well, this did nothing more than piss of the homesteaders. I was feeding #2 yesterday afternoon and was glared at through the window by one of the aforementioned squirrels. It was very Hitchcock. He wasn't just looking in the window, he was looking AT me. The little SOB actually chewed a new hole in the foam.
I don't know how you may have handled it, but it was on after that...

I went back to Lowes, got another can of foam and a big container of vermin repellant. It's some sort of granule that has been treated with Oil of Black pepper, capsacin and something that sounds like terrorists would use on the subway against a large city. I filled the hole with foam and then sprinkled that repellant onto the wet glob. I then put down another layer of foam with the granules on top. It looks like a big, irritating sundae. The little SOB hasn't come back today though...! The repellant smelled strong to me and slightly burned my eyes. I can't imagine what it does to a squirrel's olfactory senses.
If he comes back, the ante goes up and I go nuclear...no rattling the saber here! I'll poison the shit out of the bastard.

Saturday 8 a.m. -- See you guys then...

Landis found guilty...

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/news/story?id=3029089


I still don't know what to think...

For whom the Bell(South) tolls...

So the TNCWC went off without a hitch, but ended with one.

The main instigators were in attendance last night, even though the field was relatively small. There just wasn't a whole lot of filler out there last night. The wind was a factor last night as it was completely opposite of normal. The backstretch had a screaming tail and the front was the head. The speeds on the two were very similar somehow!
About 10 minutes in, my phone rings. The H.O.'s grandmother is in the hospital and had open heart surgery 5 days ago, so I'm obliged to answer. The H.O. proceeds to ask me what #1 has eaten through the day and what she should fix him for dinner...??!!! Sweet Baby Jesus, you're his mother, figure the shit out!
So I missed a lap for THAT and jumped back in. The group ebbed and flowed for the next 25 minutes, until Der Kaiser and Toby got off the front and just drilled it. They had a huge gap in less than 2 laps. There really wasn't a concerted effort to chase until about 10 minutes to go. The pace wicked up and guess what...? My GD phone rings again! This time, the H.O. asks me if #1 needed more cold medicine!!!!!!!! So I missed another lap for that! I was quite pissy by this point, so I pulled out @ 45 minutes. I'm at the end of my cold, but am still having trouble breathing properly. The interruptions did nothing but take me out of my rhythm and F up my ride. The phone gets put on vibrate from now on!
Here's where we get to the hitch...
Il Professore took it upon himself to keep the time. No issue with that other than the time kept was incorrect. He started the time @ 6:30 and ran it until 7:20. There would be no problem with that if we actually rolled off at 6:30 every Tuesday. When I rolled up, after dropping out, it was 46-ish minutes and Il Professore was yelling 3 to go. It was, in reality, 4 to go.
Toby and Der Kaiser were away and if the time had been kept correctly, they would have been caught, as the chase group of four was bearing down and was within 100 yards at what should have been the bell lap. If the laps/time had been counted correctly, the outcome would have been different. I noticed a couple of weeks ago that two to go was yelled before the 50 minute mark had been crossed...
The race is 50 minutes plus 2 laps, regardless of what time we leave. I will be keeping time next week to ensure it's correct. If the group crosses at 49:30, it's three to go, period. There's no "-ish" timekeeping in bike racing...
Other than that, it was a good race, everyone was safe and we all got a good workout. I had good legs, but am still fighting the lingering effects of this stupid cold.

See you guys Thursday...it'll be a short one as it's dark early. Be there for a 6:00 sharp departure.

Weekend update

First, let's just jump into the big news...Corbett is stepping down as the DS of Team HealthNet...

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2007/sep07/sep17news

Great, now he can ride more and get fit, and we'll have another dude to chase around! Thanks Jeff, thanks a whole bunch!!

Saturday, the overwhelming majority of the group went to do Caesars Head and was, evidently, punished summarily by Der Kaiser. Seeing as I have parental responsiblities, I was here and showed for the normal 8 a.m. ride. A grand total of 4 folks showed and we headed out for the short Eastover loop. I can tell that I'm still suffering some effects of this flipping cold. I rode well, but felt very flat and was producing serious amounts of "head fluid"!

We ended with 55-ish and 3 hours on the bike.

Sunday, I took advantage of the fact that #1 was at the Gray Hair Spa, and slept until 7:30. I know it doesn't sound like sleeping in, but when you usually catch a 2 year old finger in the face @ 6 a.m., 90 extra minutes of shut eye is like gold.

I got on the new 29er @ 8:30 and did 2 hours on the Palmetto Trail. I've decided that a 29er MTB is the way to go for me. It's more comfortable, rides better and fits my body-type better than a 26 inch wheel bike.

Today was a shakedown run, so I didn't push all that hard. I figured out that I must have a googly eye or something, because the stem was WAAAAY crooked. The other discovery had to do with air pressures. I needed more in the fork and less in the tires. Overall though, it's a damn nice bike and you really can't beat it for the money...(it was inexpensive (not cheap))!!

Monday means back to parental duties, so I'll see you guys at the TNCWC...

Darkness falls...

Man, the days are getting SHORT. That, coupled with the Pacific Northwest overcast that hung around all day, darkness came around 7:30 tonight. The ride was pretty thin as well. Only 10 of us rolled out. We all made it throught the Fort and down Harmon together. We got split by the light and once the second half rolled through, Il Professore came up with a crevasion. He decided to sacrifice himself and told us to go on. Beano got that word and nailed it down the hill. A nice 60kph chase ensued and we brought him back in short order. It was then that I came to the realization that I'm still a bit on the sickly side. I felt like I was breathing through a bendy straw, and that's a killer at 45kmh.
We went across Mineraville, turned on Cabin Creek and then took the left on MLK. Dusk was rolling in quickly, so we went straight through to 378 and Pineview. A RCSO officer came through the intersection with lights and sirens and split the group again. Some waited for him to clear us...and some didn't...! Thankfully, Big Charles R. (BCR) was in the 2nd group. I took a long 45kph pull and then he came around me at 50kph. That guy is a GD horse.
The run to the bridge on Shop was quick. Francisco and CC Mark diced it for the sprint. I was breathing like an asthmatic at this point so I sat down and just rolled to the line.

Overall, I'm glad I got on the bike, as it helped rid me of copious amounts of the bad stuff that's been in my head and chest for the last 5 days. My legs felt fine until the sprint. I'll be fine and back to form in a week or so. Everyone is going to the mountains this weekend, so the Saturday ride may be a bit anorexic. I call around to see who's planning on riding...

My new bike will be here tomorrow... :) I'll post pics once it's done...which will be tomorrow night...

I'm famous...

http://fixedgeargallery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14670

It's funny to me that some of the posters on that board have genuine disdain for me, while about half of them have no problem with it. One guy in particular has his manties in a huge wad. Unfortunately, most of the posters on that board aren't intelligent enough to throw together their thoughts and reply in a coherent manner. Nor do they realize that the title of this post is meant to be ironic....buncha smarties over there!

I will admit, my actions may have been a bit strong-armed, but I initially got out of the truck to check for any damage and to TALK to the aforementioned d-bag, wannbe, hipsters. The escalation of the situation was caused by the hipster guy. I'm sorry, but if I've got my kids in the car and someone decides to run at me, attempting to force a confrontation, it's highly likely that they will get one, regardless of their age and/or size.

I was merely defending myself, my property and most of all, my children. If you can't understand that, then you should probably grow up a bit.

There will come a time when you Chuck Taylor, cut-off Dickies, vintage (bought at American Apparel) t-shirt wearing, fixed gear wannabes have to grow up, move out of your mom's basement and become contributing members of society. I know it's hard not to be "core", but to quote John Stewart, "You just aren't helping...!"

That being said, I'm all about bikes and riding. By all means, ride your bike, but don't act like the laws of society, be they "de jure" or "de facto", don't apply to you. Use common sense!

And don't think for a moment that I have love for the car, because I don't. It's a necessary evil. I can't take the kids to school, or go to Target or go check in on my 90 year old grandmother on my bike. Well, I could, but the amount of time wasted would be staggering. I truly wish I could live in a small village where a car was un-needed.
Believe me when I tell you, in my 23 years on the bike, I have been yelled at, buzzed, swerved at and had more shit throw at me, than I care to remember. Should I tell the story of the full 20oz. Coke bottle that came from an oncoming car, into the group and hit me in the forearm...while going 25 mph?

I will not devote any more time to this folly, nor will I engage in arguments with any of the hipster wannabes...done...over...finished...


Check out the link to BIKESNOB for more info on the fixed gear wannbe trend...

It's official...

The fixed gear, hipster, douchebag trend has made all the way to Columbia. Two weeks ago, there was a "Critical Mass" ride that completely snarled traffic and pissed off pretty much everyone in Shandon and Five Points. The irony? There were only about 30 people on the "ride".
Shortly thereafter, one of the wannabe, legs-like-a-veal calf, hipsters was in CC bragging about the "ride", to which I let him know my general opinion of him, those on the "ride" and the "ride" itself. He wanted to compare mileage and fitness levels, so I invited him out for either the TNCWC or the Thursday ride, his choice. His answer? "Roadies are posers...!" Easy cop out there moron...
This morning, I'm on my way to take #1 to school and run an errand and I get yelled at by two of the aforementioned hipsters for coming too close to them on Heyward St. Needless to say, I gave them a WIDE berth, even though they were taking the entire freaking lane. They pulled up at the light and began berating me. As most of you who know me realize, this isn't always the best angle of attack when confronting me. Both kids were in the car though, so I let it go with a smartass wave and smile. The female hipster proceeded to kick my truck as I pulled away.
Well folks, that shit just doesn't fly around here. I locked it down, stopped, and got out to have a "conversation". The male hipster decided he was feeling frisky, so he jumped right in my face and was met with my right hand around his neck and a small, albeit effective, slam into the side of my truck. Did I mention that this was in the middle of the intersection of Heyward and Woodrow?
At that point, I explained that I was a cyclist and probably had been for about as long as they'd both been taking breath. I also explained that acting like complete douchebags while on the bike only made it worse for everyone who rode, regardless of the what, where, why or how.
After about 30 seconds of being held against his will by someone bigger and stronger, male hipster decided to apologize and agreed that they over-reacted.

I'm all for the rights of cyclists and the need to make Columbia more bike friendly, but over-reaction by the lunatic fringe of the cycling world doesn't help the cause. I hate to say it, but if those two morons kick the wrong vehicle, they might get hurt badly or worse. Nothing says I'm hardcore like a bullet in the ass or a 2 ton SUV crushing your pelvis.

Ride your bike like cars don't see you. That's the only way to stay alive and in one piece.

Rant over...

See you guys Thursday night...

7 for 9 or Signs of the Apocalypse

So I've ridden 7 out of the last 9 days, including the last two Beer rides. I'm thinking I'm pretty much done with the Beer ride. It's getting to dark at the end and too dangerous the rest of the time. The trip down Golden Arrow is an exercise in self-preservation. 20+ gapers with poor, at best, handling skills heading down the hill handlebar to handlebar...scary stuff! They take that ride WAAAY too seriously.

We had a great ride today. It started with the biggest group we've had in literally months. We decided to do the long Eastover loop. Things started out easy enough...

The pace was positively mellow out of the Fort and the entire run up Old Leesburg to 378. Once we crossed 378 and turned onto Chaingang, it got quick and stayed quick. It was a much easier trip down Chaingang this time as the County has decided to pave it. I'm not talking about the old 'tar and chip' that is the norm for rural roads around here. They paved it with honest-to-God, billiard ball smooth asphalt. It made for a rather enjoyable 50kph run down into Eastover. I took my pull in the 53x14 and was just about spun out. With that many people on the ride, the end of the paceline took a while to get to you once you'd done a turn.
We rode through Eastover and out to The Cricket Store, then kept the pace high all the way to GMart.
The remainder of the ride was a slow/medium tempo.

I ended up with right at 100km and considering the head cold I'm fighting, didn't ride all that bad. Some form is starting to creep it's way back into my fat body.

I've decided to take Sunday off the bike as a sick day. I will be NyQuil'd up very shortly and likely either really goofy or asleep after that...

See you Tuesday @ The TNCWC!

And on the 5th day

I felt better than the 3rd...
The crit went off last night with most of the horsepower in attendance. The whole group stayed together for the first 5 minutes and then the attacks came. At one point, there were 7 or 8 up the road and the group (well, 6 or 7 of us) actually worked in unison to bring it back. It was a very hard chase, but the bunch came back together at about 25 minutes and the pace slowed for a few laps.
@ 35 minutes in, I caught the tailend of RW and Der Kaiser plotting and spread the information through the field. When Der Kaiser went, so did the entire group. No soup for you...!
A couple of laps later Charles rolled off the front and a few guys joined him. They stayed out for quite a while. The chase began and only a few decided to help out in the effort. I took several pulls and then sat in to recover for the finish. On the penultimate lap, a counter move of 4 rolled away, including RW, Derek, Doogie and Toby.
Everyone in the group sat in, looking at each other, so I just put the hammer to the mat and figured I'd pull it back together. After my 35+ mph chase down the backstretch, I caught the 4 and looked back for help...I was it!
Unfortunately, the huge effort, combined with my earlier work in chasing breaks, completely shot my wad. I crossed the finish line with one to go and sat up.
The finish came down to Charles, Derek and Toby with Charles winning...again. The remainder of the bunch was split all over creation.

Overall, I felt really good, both mentally and physically. Ending my 5 day block with a hard effort was perfect. I am, in fact, very tired this morning. No riding today or Thursday.

PT update: The noise I heard on Monday was indeed the wheel beginning to come apart. Shrews called yesterday and told me that I had several cracked eyelets on the Mavic rim. Super...

Over and out...

NRC x 4

4 NRC titles in a row for Team Healthnet p/b Maxxis...
Crusty should get a raise or at least a bonus....

Day 4

The original plan was to spin around, relatively easy, for a couple of hours this morning. That quickly got shot in the ass last might when The Velvet Hammer said he wanted to go long. I'm down with riding, so I figured it'd be okay...
This morning rolled around and we all met at the gate @ 8:15. TVH wasn't there so Mrs. Der Kaiser rang him at home. Evidently, he consumed large quantities of quality red wine last night and had a bit of a lingering fuzz this morning.
We rolled out and headed for Double Elon. The tempo wasn't overly fast, but stayed steady, with everyone doing their share of the work. Just before the second climb, I went to the front a took a long pull. When we got to the climb, I stood up and stayed in the big ring about 1/2 way up and then heard a loud "Prrrang". I didn't break a spoke on the PT wheel, but it definitely isn't true anymore. I sat down and pedaled up the rest of the climb. I don't need to break a spoke way out in Eastover and be forced to call the H.O. to come get me. She's already a bit pissy about the ride schedule over the last few days anyway...
After we crossed 378, the tempo picked up and we rode paceline at between 37 and 40 kmh all the way to the GMart. A stop for replenishment and we were on our way.

The remainder of the ride was 30-33 kmh. After 4 days on the bike, it was harder to go 30 kmh than 40.
I rolled home with 3 hours of ride time and right at 60 miles. It was a really good ride!

Stacking days like this really helps me, so we'll see how I'm going in the next couple of weeks. I plan on doing the crit tomorrow night. Nothing like ending a 5 day block of training by racing for an hour!

Or, I could have gone to Michgan with Mandrus for the weekend. He did 4 centuries in four days. He'll either be flying, or shattered when he gets back. Il Professore went to Savannah for a century on Sunday. The problem was the 6" of rain they got Saturday that flooded downtown. I wonder if he took a snorkel...

Congrats to Levi Leipheimer as well. He finally gets to pull on the Stars and Stripes...! Now if he'd just tell us who the F he's riding for next year...

Hell is freezing over...

I've ridden three days in a row! Holy shit!

Friday, I met Il Professore to spin around a bit and we ended up meeting the Beer Ride as it entered the Fort. It wasn't as frightening as it has been in the past. It still had many of the same characters who like to go fast at inopportune times, but it was a relatively safe affair. The Peanut was leading the ride, which is amusing at best. He doesn't come out to ride with the group anymore (not that we miss his complete lack of skill or stellar personality), so he shows for the Beer Ride and acts like the big shot...dope!
Saturday, the State RR was going on, so the group was lean. We ended up doing a modified Thursday night loop and coming back in through Horrell Hill and the Fort. It was one of those ride that just seemed like it took a long time, even though it was 2:30. Derek won the 45+ masters RR and Brian won the 35+. It can't be said that the fast old guys live in Columbia...
This morning, Doogie and I went out and did a 2 hour, 18 mph spin ride through Hopkins and back. It was the anti-thesis of yesterday. The 2 hour ride passed quickly and I actually felt pretty good. No efforts were made AT ALL and the HR never got over 130. Doogie and his young wife went to Greenville to watch the USPRO this afternoon, along with several others from town. I, on the other hand, am hosting the gray hairs for a cookout.

It's nice that the USPRO is hosted, and welcomed so warmly, by Greenville and it's residents. Columbia would NEVER even attempt to do anything of this nature, as it wouldn't be accepted by the inhabitants, or government, of our fair city. Mayor Bob would rather spend money to plant flowers and streetscape the bad parts of town.

Zabriskie won the TT yesterday by 1.4 seconds...

Meet tomorrow @ 8 a.m. at the traffic circle for a 3 hour ride.