Sooo Tired of Driving

I've been home One weekend out of the last eight. Driven up I-26 six times recently. However, I did have a productive weekend. Got alot of great riding in the mountains done, the house is no longer mine, built a bunch of wheels, watched Alex get 3rd in an inline competition, saw some of the Halloween Festival in Brevard, and did a beautiful 5 mile trail run. Great weather , friends, and scenery- now back to Charleston till next Thursday's drive up I-26 again. I have a 12 hour race in Charlotte that should be fun. I like riding myself senseless every now and then so it should be good! DH out.

Another one for the " I'm never gonna do that again column."

I'm sure everyone has noticed the beautiful full moon that has been coming the last couple of nights. I too have seen this. Last night I decided to take Liza out on the motorcycle to cruise out at Folly Beach. We took off about 8:45. It was a great night out, clear and cool with a nice breeze. We got out on Seccessionville Rd. and things went downhill. I knew I needed gas for the bike but I still had the reserve and plenty of time before that ran out. Anyways, sputter, sputter, the bike comes to a stop. No problem, I'll turn it to reserve and we'll be off. One problem- I was already on reserve when I ran out of gas. Time to push. The gas station was a mile and a half away at the Piggly Wiggly on Folly Rd. What started out as a nice evening became a humid, hot, sweaty hike while pushing 260 lbs. for 1/2 hour. Finally we saw the neon oasis of the Piggly Wiggly ahead. Filled up, blasted home, got a shower, and went to bed. Yup, I'll never do that again. DH

Weekend Wrapup

Loong weekend is finally over. Drove up to Asheville Fri. night and stayed w/ Robert and Kellie. Saw a flipped over RV towing a flipped over Jeep about 100 feet off the road on I-26 outside Columbia. At least the moron managed to get that thing off the road before he took out a bunch of other vehicles. Anyways- made decent time to Fletcher where the weather was nice and cold. Got up Sat morning to drive over to Johnson City, TN for MSG Cross #2. Nice ride up- beautiful leaves and a crisp clear day- that is one of my favorite drives around. Almost blew up the gas station when Robert hopped out of the van before taking it out of reverse, but everything turned out all right. A little too much Krispy Kreme excitement I guess.
Race- Great course, rolling and fast with 2 sets of barriers and a sand pit too. Robert did his first cross race and while we were expecting some carnage, there was none - he rode well and I was next up so I got my warmup on and got ready to race.
Actually had a field of nearly 20 racers in the Pro 1/2, with a good bit of heat showing up. Will Black, Dan Timmerman from Kodak/ Sierra Nevada, Andy Applegate, and a few others indicated this was gonna be a hard one. Yup- the race started fast, then went faster. I settled in around 10th for a few laps, waiting for the fast start to take it's toll. Sure enough- 2-3 laps in and people were blowing up and making mistakes. By the halfway point I had moved up to 6th and was feeling pretty good. I stayed here for the rest of the race. I wasn't gonna get caught and wasn't making time on 5th so I felt pretty good. Then another problem presented itself. Dan Timmerman was about 1/2 lap up on everyone else and closing on me fast. I was gonna get 6th no matter what but I really didn't want to get lapped so I had to turn it on pretty hard. The last lap Dan was about 20 sec off me the whole way and closing fast near the finish. I gave it all I had left and held him off by about 10 feet or so. That done, everyone behind had been lapped so they were done. I could relax and all I had to do was finish the lap and I was good to go.
I was hurting so bad after that race, I can't remember being in pain like that for a long time. My legs have not been strong enough in the last couple of years to make myself hurt that bad- so I guess that's good! Another good thing is that Applegate usually laps me at those races, this time I was less than 2 mins. off him.
Clean up, pack up, eat, and grab my check and we blasted back south to Asheville.
Had a great dinner at Marco's pizza, got some DQ and called it a night.
Got up this morning and drove to Brevard. Another beautiful fall morning 40 degrees or so out. Robert and I headed out on a ride for a few hours while Liza tied up some loose ends and cleaned the house. We loaded the trailer when we got back, ate lunch and got everything else out of the house, picked up Alex and blew town for Charleston. So long Brevard- It's been real and it's been great, but it hasn't been ( well- you know the rest). 4 hrs. later and alot of stupid drivers later and we are home and ready to put this weekend in the books. Later- DH

Overdue Update

I've been real busy since the last post. Here's what has been going on:
1. We got a contract on the house and will close next week.
2. Race the Greenville Classic crit last weekend and rode very strong. Top 10 all race long and didn't feel as if it was a very fast race. ( I was assured by teammates that it was very fast though) 5 laps to go and the guy leading into turn 3 crosses wheels on #2 - big crash and most of the top guys go down. No free laps with 8 to go, so bad luck there- game over- thanks for playing. Fitness is good however.
3. Still getting settled into Charleston
4. Going to Johnson City Saturday for my first Cross race of the year. Feeling fast but a little rusty- I'm sure I will smooth out the technique soon.
I'll post more soon- gotta pack for the weekend, Later- DH

Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, and then some rain.

OK, I'm sick of the rain. I've done about 10 hrs in the rain the last few days. Did 1 min intervals this morning in rain so hard I thought my eyeballs were gonna get bruised. The morning started nice and misty but by the time I was halfway out the bottom dropped out. Ended up with my feet underwater at some points due to the flooding. That's great for the equipment. Fenders, lights, little caps, and rainjackets- fun. What a harsh contrast to the past weekend's sunny weather.
Speaking of last weekend- had a great time on St. Simon's Island for my Cousin's wedding. Started Sat off with about 80 miles, did half of that with my Dad and Uncle. That was a fun ride, I like riding with those guys whenever I can. Sat. evening was the wedding and it was a doozy. Beautiful area and ceremony, then the reception on Sea Island. The whole famile was there together for the first time in a long while. We ate great food, socialized, and danced late into the night. Everyone had a great time. I also was treated to the sight of my dad doing the Robot on the dance floor. Good Stuff. Going to Brevard at 6:00 am tomorrow for some mountain riding and to move the balance of my stuff down here. Till next time- DH