Farewell Old Friend...

We miss you already.

Ian Foyster

Frady Branch + Fun = Broken Teeth

We ended up staying in Athens this weekend, and wonder of wonders, it didn't rain!  Knowing we wanted to ride, were we about to sleep in Sunday morning, then leisurely caffeinate ourselves in front of the tv?  No WAY.   

Met up with a few fine folks of yore, and headed to Frady Branch for our own version of wildlife management.  Undaunted by the 30 degree morning or the bridges that weren't there, we jumped on our bikes---then immediately got off in order to carry them across the river to get to the trails.  But then, it was awesome!! 

We rode on some of the southeast's only 'triple track', we laughed, we sang, we admired the beautiful foliage..and some of us participated in a few marvelous crashes.  Assisting with some routine trail maintenance, Edge caught a tree in the face and cracked his helmet clean through the foam and titanium ring.  The arboreal head-on collision was also enough to break a tooth and add some zest to his grill!

As for the rest of us, one sprained his right ankle and couldn't get his foot out of the pedal  for the rest of the day, one of us endo'd downhill and caught a branch in the eye, another landed in numerous ditches because he was willing to try any and everything, and one...well?  One of us (ahem, Cleg) made it through the day totally unscathed. 

Rock n' roll everyone, good company and injuries are what make getting out of bed early on a Sunday morning totally worth it.  We had a great time, and of course, the post ride imbibing helped us forget about silly teeth, ankles and eyeballs for a little while longer.  Pfff, who needs 'em.  Let's ride!

Pisgah Stage Race Day Four

A mighty win.

Wouldn't you know, missed the finish by about three minutes.  Aaargh!!  Promoters were forced to cut an 8 mile loop out of the final stage due to ice and general precariousness, wreaking havoc on my punctuality.  Missed them on their bikes, but still caught them in their kits--Bill in his stage win jersey.  Yow!

But once the kits were off and the winter jackets were on, we sat in the massage queue with Fat Tire in hand and had a conversation about the weekend's events.  So?  How was it??

Edge:  This race was everything I expected it to be, and more! It had epic trails, awesome competition and a splash of gnarly weather thrown in for good measure. After stage 2 I had lost what lead I had on Peter Butt by three minutes and had some work to do on stage 3. Then at the start of stage 4, it was voted that Farlow would be taken out due to unsafe conditions, so my only ace in the hole was out.  Instead, I had to keep pace with the Aussie all day or at least keep him in sight.

At the end of the race, I lost by two minutes.........It was hard to swallow, thinking back on all the times I could have gone a little harder and didn't or couldn't.

But all in all I had a great time, rode some epic trails in very epic conditions, and got a chance to see a lot of Pisgah I hadn't seen yet.

Edge and Pete Butt were the only ones to finish in their class...each got "a custom medal."

WB also had a great race, and reigned supreme of the elite masters!

Terrapin later rocked the HELL out of their custom medals, making a nice book end to their wonderous, four day feat of icy, mtb glory.

See ya'll at Swank and you can believe that next time, Farlow will be ON!

Pisgah Stage Race Day Three

First in class.

Survey says?

It's F@%$#*! FREEZING!!!

Cold and rainy to start with, and it only got worse.  With body and extremity temps already LOW, racers were further subjected to a "creek" crossing - knee deep - FIVE TIMES.  Edge got stuck behind "some guy" for one of the earlier crossings and had no choice but to tip over and submerge his right hand and arm into the frikkin freezing abyss.  By the time he got to rest stop two, he had icicles all over his arm warmer and couldn't feel his hand.  Thank God for Bruce Dickman, who valiantly stepped in and loaned Edge a new set of gloves for the duration.  When racers got to 4,000 feet, they were greeted with snow flurries.  At 4,700 feet, they were taunted by falling snow.  And by the time they reached 5,000 feet, they were flat out heckled by snow...ON THE GROUND. 

30 minutes after the finish, Edge still couldn't feel his feet but was still able to hobble over to the massage table...maybe they could help...

Stay tuned for the finale tomorrow!!

Pisgah Stage Race Day Two

First in class.

The race went from a 6 mile, 800' elevation time trial, to a 37 mile, 9,000' elevation race today!

Survery says?

Wicked gnarly!!

Pisgah Stage Race Day One

Time Trial - Second in class.

Survey says??

The course is WET.

Dirty Spokes 12 Hours of Unicoi

Second Place - 12 Hour Solo

Well, the forecast was for RAIN, and lots of it.  How befitting to complete the race season by enveloping it in a monsoon sandwich, finishing up in the mud like we did earlier in the season at Ft. Yargo.  And though it did POUR during the wee hours of the morning, the race itself was mercifully "dry" with a lower incidence of slick casualties than there could've been (mercy for some, but not me, as Edge later witnessed my spectacular wipeout on the two-way bridge... heh...).

The racers lined up early on, with the omnipresent Terrapin crew stashed at the front.

Tim began the countdown,

and they were off.

The Terrapin boys maintained their lead while chasing each other down the short road added to the beginning of the course, which kindly postponed the usual, instant uphill heart attack by a few extra minutes.

Edge came through the pits 41 minutes later, third only to fellow Terrapins Shey and Jafer (both six hour).

Maintaining an overall pace of just over 6 minutes per mile, he came and went all morning...

...until his sixth lap, when he came in with a busted bottom bracket and a failing left knee cap. 

But since his rabbit had just scooted out of the transition area, he decided to go out for at least one more lap and see how he felt.

Welllll, even with a broken bike and practically no ligaments left in his poor geriatric knees, Edge still easily caught the rabbit, did an easy spin with her for a couple miles, then casually beat her back to the finish...all the while she struggled to reclaim the lungs she left somewhere back at the bridge (that stupid, ridiculously slippery, evil stinking bridge).

It was a difficult decision to make, but after seven laps and a gentleman's agreement with third place, Edge called it quits.  No point in ruining his body before the four day stage race coming up this weekend.  It just made more sense to take it easy and double fist some beer.

Time passed, it got dark, and we waited for the awards.

Turns out he didn't need his kneecaps after all, because Edge still secured second place for the race,

and second in the Dirty Spokes series overall.  We enjoyed meeting and hanging out with Tony Cervati waiting for the race to end, so it was extra nice to share the podium with him, too.  Wicked nice guy!

At the end of the day, Unicoi is a tough course.  It's only eight miles, but it feels like 15 of it is uphill climbing.  How can the ENTIRE stinking course be uphill climbing??  But despite the hills and hazards (heh-bridge), it was a great race, and it's hard to believe the season is nearly over.  Once again, thanks to Hostel Cyclist for their support, and congratulations to them for their wins, also taking second in the race and second in the series in the 12 Hour Four Man Co-ed. 

ROCK!!!

Las Montañas + Bicicletas y Dinosaur Amigos = ¡DIVERTIDOS!

What better way to break in your new backyard, than to ride your bike through it with a bunch of friends?

That's it, lean your bikes up against it,

Raise the roof in it (weeeeee!),

 Pop a wheelie on it,

Heh, definitely "don't" fall,

And as usual, smile while you're there, it makes people wonder what you're up to.  No seriously, what gives?

Who cares?  Today's ride in the backyard is like, totally the GREATEST!

 Er, at least it was, until...

 Sheeee-ooooooot...

 Forget it, let's get outta here.

No, wait!  Today couldn't have been sweller!!  BFF forever.

All the dinos are happy, further cementing the great idea that NC migration has turned out to be.

See you at the Dirty Spokes finale next weekend!