Monday, August 23, 2010

Fool's Gold











What an awesome weekend I had. Drove up to Dahlonega on Thursday to pre-ride the Fool's Gold course in the rain. As I headed up the first climb the rain stopped, the sky looked better and I thought it would clear and dry out. It didn't. I rode the gravel climb and descent then headed down Turner Creek trail into an expanse of peanut butter. When I popped out back on the forest road I had decided to cut the trail sections out of my pre-ride since they were in such bad condition. I then headed backwards on the course and back up to the ridgetop, back across, then down Cooper Gap Rd. to where my car was parked past the 4H camp. After a quick swim in the creek to wash off ( not to be the last!) I headed into town to catch up with my parents.

Friday was a great day, sunny again and not too hot. I got out for awhile on some quiet roads for another good ride. When I got back and cleaned up my Mother and I drove over to Hiawassee to see my grandparents for lunch. My Uncle and Cousin stopped by as well. We had a great lunch and visited as long as we could, but too soon it was time to go home. When we got back to Dahlonega, I rode up to Wheelworks and picked up my registration packet, came home and went to a great Italian dinner with my parents. After dinner and a quick walk around the square, we headed home, I got everything ready to go for my 5:30 am wakeup and hit the sack.

I was awakened earlier than I wanted to be by some very severe sounding thunderstorms. I got so excited that I could barely get back to sleep. I have been waiting all year for muddy race! Anyways- I woke up at 5:30, got ready, and was out the door by 5:45. I arrived at the camp the same time as last year- a little after 6 and was suprised that the parking was almost gone. There must have been twice the turnout this year. I got the megavan parked, got changed, and headed off to take care of the most important part of the race preparation.
The line at the bathroom was very long. After a painstaking wait, I was able to drop a little weight. Now I could mosey on over to the start line and relax till it was time to ride straight up a hill for an hour. Soon, the 100 mile race started. Those guys took off and I was a little sad to be doing the 50 miler this year instead of the 100. It wouldn't make a difference in the long run however. When the 100 milers had rolled out, the 50s swarmed thestart line. Jeremy and I ended up front row right in the middle. Perfect. After a look around I was very glad to be there as all I could see was people behind me. There must have been 300 back there. After a quick strategy talk with Jeremy where we discussed getting the holeshot, then making a left back to our cars and going home, we were getting the 30 second countdown. Everybody got real quiet as the tension rapidly built waiting for the start. I was counting in my head like I always do waiting to jump on one instead of go. After 30 seconds Eddie shouted 10 seconds and everyone flinched a little. Then GO. I got a good start with Jeremy right behind me to avoid the chaos as the bottleneck started behind us. And full race report willhave to wait until tomorrow- I have to go ride now! Later-DH

3 comments:

spokejunky said...

Mmmm....cooked brake pads. Did the rotors survive?

David Hall said...

There are different degrees of injury that can be sustained and survival still be possible. They are in rough shape but still on the hubs. Fortunately I'm not picky.

spokejunky said...

Custom rotor engraving by DH. If you don't have to bend them back with the crescent wrench, then it's all good.