Father’s Day started with a long mountain bike ride, and a nap in the Flippac before heading home.
Since it’s “my” day, I choose a family hike to the top of Little Long Mountain for a supper time picnic.
That makes a good day!
Back to the track
I love riding the steep banks and this was a racing workshop for new track racers
There were several college riders in the group and so much strategy to think about
It is a blast going all out on a fixed gear bike, I just have to remember I have to keep pedaling as I crossed the line.
Then time to bar hop/eat. We passed a place called The Pump House on the way to the velodrome, so we started there, drinks and wings while sitting on the roof top bar watching tubers on the Catawba River.
Then following a recommendation, it was a seafood dinner at the Rock Salt in Charlotte (this is a wall on a bike shop)
a night at my favorite camp spot in Uwharrie National Forest
Road trip to mountains, it’s really hot at home!
I wanted a long ride and managed to find one. Blowing Rock past Grandfather Mountain and into Linville, then back up the Blue Ridge Parkway over the Linville Viaduct.
Kodak is happy
Great ride today, but I had to take this picture now because I was stopped with major cramps. I only had a Cherry Pop-Tart and diet Mt. Dew before the ride and bonked hard. I was very happy to average over 10mph for a 3+ hour ride and worried I wouldn’t finish after stretching. But I did!
It’s always funny to me what I think of when physically stressed, today it was Shawarma and Baby Guinness, I was able to quench both desires!
A great day of workouts. An hour in the weight room before work, a 1.5 hour ride and USAT tennis.
Race morning warmup. 34 degrees!
with the bike!
My Race: I never feel good about my fitness and this morning was the same, but I lined up against 12 or so guys in the 50+ Cat 3 field and waited for the word GO!
I got the hole shot and by the first turn in the grass I had a couple bike lengths, by the time we got to the woods I had 25 yards, after the first 1/4 mile I never saw anyone behind me again, I was lucky and rode away from the field. Soon I was catching riders from other fields and passed and dropped them.
I am happy to have won my 3rd Southern Classic Mountain Bike Race in the last 7 years (after a ton of mid pack finishes) and emailed USA Cycling to request my Category upgrade that evening, so bad to mid-pack finishes I am sure!
Pre-ride! Tires, as much as I talk about truck tires, I was debating tires for this course, pine straw, sand, and leaves…. what gives grip to that? Nothing!
Chasing my shadow and the sun home.
North Carolina Cyclocross #something. It’s been a wet season and today was! I decided not to warmup on the course at all, just too muddy, I brought the wrong tires, and I forgot my pre-race fuel. So as you might have guessed, I didn’t have a great day. I raced the 50+ Cat 1,2,3 and started at the back of the field, it is a very long straight field (and today muddy) start, I was about 5 from dead last at the first turn, and spent the next 45 minutes there. I did pass a couple of 40+ racers that started a minute in front of me, but for the first time was lapped by the leader, so I did one less lap, and I was fine with that!
It’s funny what you think about while racing, today I was remembering the mountain bike season start and the super muddy Tsali race and next week the cyclocross season might be ending in the snow and sleet!
LSD – long, slow and distance. Not sure if it’s time for base, but it was a small ring ride today!
