12 Hours of Santos

Jeremy Epar and Bill Landizlotta take first place in the 12 hour men's duo.

Wait, WHO??

Well, apparently the lady on the phone taking care of race registration had giblets in her ears, but at least she got their first names right.  Anyway, despite the case of wrong identity, the Team Caffeine boys cleaned up in nearly every category they entered down in Florida last weekend. 

 Making their presence known early on, the crew shook out their winter legs and got it done.
 

 

 

 

   (For fear of the copyright police, I can't show you what was happening between Bill's elbows and knees)

 

 

 Raise your hand if you love pain!  And beer!

Not only did Caffeine take the duo men, but David Hall took first in the 12 hour single speed, and Andy Christman topped it off with first in the 12 hour sport.  Nice job guys, on this most auspicious start to the 2010 season!

New Tires

We welcome the newest addition to the Edge clan!

A fuzzy little quadruped, called---

Tires.

He'll be on Edge's heels at all the races this season...see ya then! 

Snow Sucks

"Ah yes hello, God?  Yeah hey, this is Jeremy.  Yeah.  Hey listen, I was wondering if you could cut the crap with the weather.  Yeah, I know, it's just that---well yeah, exactly, it's freezing, which is fine, but the actual snow and shitty road conditions are getting on everyone's ner---what's that?  Oh, well yes, I guess it is kinda pretty, it's just that---what?  Yeah, the cows are handling it ok, but the thing is, they don't ride bikes, so it doesn't really matter what they think.......mm hm...oh, yeah?  Okay, well I never really thought of it that way, it's just that the race season starts soon, and training has been pretty tough----no, I know, being stoned  would be a lot tougher---right, and at least we have wheels----yeah, yeah, ok got it.  Well nevermind then I guess.  Yeah.  Ok sure, talk to you later."

God says maybe later.

EDGE VISOR

From Pace Sportswear, check it out!  

That's right, Edge used to customize his cycling caps by cutting out the tops and hemming the edges with bright orange thread when he still lived in Columbia.  Not only were they crafty projects, but they also prevented his buzzed head from overheating in the summer months.  One of the Hawley folks caught a glimpse of his creation on a routine group ride, recognized the fabulousness of it, and turned Edge's prototype into a reality.

As the Ghost of JR always says, those of you following along in your catalog can find this dynamic visor under CLTH1221. Be sure to look up all the available ribbon colors:

 Black and white checkers,

and even better...

rainbows!

Why is Pisgah so steep?

 Yep, it's about that time again.

Time to get off the ol' ass and take a spin toward Spring.  Not to mention the upcoming race season, which, dare I say, is less than FOUR WEEKS away???  Sheisse!  Quick, grab your Gatorade and let's go!!

Who cares if it's 20 degrees and they're predicting freezing rain; find some good Cane Creek folk, the omnipresent Wild Bill and is son, and head for the fire roads.

Cold out?  Don't even think about it.  Being so profoundly immersed in the off season, it may be easy to let the dropping temperature and constant uphill climb get on your (sciatic) nerves, but keep your chin up.  See, CC Chris stopped at one point to consult the map, but thankfully it assured us we had to keep going up,

which CC Paul thought was the best thing he heard all day.

Snow, ice and hundreds of feet of trail blocked by downed trees just meant tons of extra fun with all the extra hike n' biking (more hiking). 

Nothing could dampen our euphoric moods; we were just glad to be outside!

It didn't matter that we had women and children on the ride, or that "stuff" kept freezing in WB's goatee...Edge prolonged our fun as long as possible, and we eventually got to slide down the mountain back to the cars.

Tho slightly hypothermic at times, it was a great ride and we made it back before the rains came, as evidenced by Bill's dance of mountain bike joy.  Yeah!

Looking forward to a great season in 2010...see ya at the six hour maiden voyage in February!!

Chicopee "Joy Ride"

Or, "29er Annihilation."

Why didn't you bring your niner, didn't you get the memo??

"Hey guys, I'm gonna be in town this weekend, so a group of us are riding out at Chicopee on Sunday if you wanna come.  Nothing hard core, just an easy going, social ride coz it's going to be a super nice day out."

Heh--yeah right!

Sure, the original plan was for a peaceful, Sunday stroll, but with mugs like Wild Bill and Niner Mike, suddenly half the Terrapin team plus a former single-speed champion and retired endurance racer all decided to come.  What the!  And as soon as we found out Shey Lindner was coming, all bets were off---the Chicopee fun ride instantly became a veritable crush fest.

Loehr gets it done, despite feeling "under the weather."

Niner Mike emerges with his new carbon fork!

Hey, did you guys see my niner?  Yeah, did you see mine?  Yes, but check mine out:

The parking lot was FILLED with niners, and most of them were on our ride...but alas, a few us didn't get the memo that day. What we did get were busted lungs trying to chase down the Terrapin boys (or maybe that was just me?).

But they're pretty awesome...I'm not saying we don't WANT niners, I mean look!

 Look at that handsome green stallion!!

Look at Loehr making it back to the parking lot!

Look at the orange and silver!!!

Even on 26 inch wheels, it was a very enjoyable ride, full of sun, leaves, speed and only one bike wreck hanging upside down from the trees...

...and despite the smack down, we had a really great time.  The parking lot comradery was awesome, and it was great to see folks we haven't seen in a long time.  After the post ride pow wow, we packed up and headed straight for the chips and salsa up the road, stuffed our faces, then drove home fat and happy.

Stay tuned to find out how Edge's cyclocross debut in Hendersonville goes next Saturday.  Wooo!!!

Swank 65

Thank God it has come and gone!

Once again not knowing what lay ahead of me, I should have know something was up when we got to Cove Creek Campground and saw that people had to submarine their cars through a "creek" just to get to the parking lot!

But after a brief introduction and a few half-assed cartwheels in the LeMans start, we were off.

Being at the front of this train wreck was the only way to ensure a safe passage into the single track, and from there on out, it was all UP.

Except for Farlow......and it went up even more than I had remembered...

After survivng the climb and downhill of Farlow (beatdown), I staggered my narrow ass down the last stretch of fire roads, praying the whole time for someone to make the monkey in my head stop pounding the symbols.

With the finish in sight, Todd greeted me with a Fat Tire Ale and a smile.

"Whaddya think?" he asked, and my only response was...

" I survived".

Thanks again to Todd Branham and Blueridge Adventures, and all the volunteers for all your support and time in this year's race series!