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| For Sale: $350 obo |
Friday, August 29, 2014
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Savage CX, 2014
I finally did it. I rode and finished my first endruance CX race. And I enjoyed it.
I lined up with over 100 other racers in Nebo NC on Saturday morning for Savage CX. A 50 mile mostly gravel route from Nebo, circumnavigating the Linville Gorge. If I didn't know the area, I would not have know that we were circling both some world class climbing routes and world class kayaking. Why not add a world class cycling route to the mix?
The temp at the start was just under 80. It was already warm and I knew this would play a factor in my race, but I did not know how much of a factor.
Cam, the director said go and we were off. I watched my heartrate and found my pace. I never really fell in with a group because I didn't know what to expect and didn't want to overdo it, burn my matches too early.
On the first climb I got passed by quite a few people. It was blazing hot and I didn't want to overheat. So, I took my time. As we got higher, the temps started to cool. After about an hour, I checked the thermometer and it said 73 degrees. I picked up the pace and started reeling people in.
I hit rest stop 1 in good spirits, reloaded and headed out. Onto some pavement then up Gingercake acres. Some jerk had moved an arrow sign in here and I caught up to a group of fast people who had taken the wrong turn and detoured.
Unfortunately, I had too much air in my tires and could not keep up on Table Rock Rd. Everyone had told me about the horrible climb in the first 1/3 of the course. No one had mentioned the fun downhill gravel road in the second 1/3. So much fun, swooping down, in and out of the contours of the mountain!
I stopped at aid station 2 briefly to refill, take some Coke shots and move on. The route took us down some steep sandy, gravely soft forsaken FS roads for about another hour before spitting us out onto pavement.
Being back down in the heat of the piedmont, I could not push the pace. My legs felt great but my head and body were roasting. I spun along the last 10 miles of the course, on pavement, holding a survival pace. I could see lake James and wanted to swim. When I crossed the Linville River with 5 miles to go, I could not resist. I stopped and got in. I watched as people rode by. I did not care about losing spots, only about living to finish.
Eventually, Jason Morgan came along and we rode together to the finish. I was thankful that he came along, as chatting with him lifted my spirit and helped me to enjoy the ride to the end.
Great course and great race. I placed 24th in my cat and finished in 4hrs and 30mins!!
I lined up with over 100 other racers in Nebo NC on Saturday morning for Savage CX. A 50 mile mostly gravel route from Nebo, circumnavigating the Linville Gorge. If I didn't know the area, I would not have know that we were circling both some world class climbing routes and world class kayaking. Why not add a world class cycling route to the mix?
The temp at the start was just under 80. It was already warm and I knew this would play a factor in my race, but I did not know how much of a factor.
Cam, the director said go and we were off. I watched my heartrate and found my pace. I never really fell in with a group because I didn't know what to expect and didn't want to overdo it, burn my matches too early.
On the first climb I got passed by quite a few people. It was blazing hot and I didn't want to overheat. So, I took my time. As we got higher, the temps started to cool. After about an hour, I checked the thermometer and it said 73 degrees. I picked up the pace and started reeling people in.
 |
| photo: Blue Ridge Mtn Revival |
I hit rest stop 1 in good spirits, reloaded and headed out. Onto some pavement then up Gingercake acres. Some jerk had moved an arrow sign in here and I caught up to a group of fast people who had taken the wrong turn and detoured.
Unfortunately, I had too much air in my tires and could not keep up on Table Rock Rd. Everyone had told me about the horrible climb in the first 1/3 of the course. No one had mentioned the fun downhill gravel road in the second 1/3. So much fun, swooping down, in and out of the contours of the mountain!
 |
| photo: Blue Ridge Mountain Revival |
Being back down in the heat of the piedmont, I could not push the pace. My legs felt great but my head and body were roasting. I spun along the last 10 miles of the course, on pavement, holding a survival pace. I could see lake James and wanted to swim. When I crossed the Linville River with 5 miles to go, I could not resist. I stopped and got in. I watched as people rode by. I did not care about losing spots, only about living to finish.
Eventually, Jason Morgan came along and we rode together to the finish. I was thankful that he came along, as chatting with him lifted my spirit and helped me to enjoy the ride to the end.
Great course and great race. I placed 24th in my cat and finished in 4hrs and 30mins!!
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
The Last First Day....
.... of elementary school.
I started this blog as a way to sift through my thoughts and let people know that they were not alone with their thoughts. Others have and are experiencing similar situations and getting through things are easier if we know others have succeeded.
I'm proud to say that I have a solid, mature, confident 5th grader. Today is his last time for a first day of elementary school. And, he is excited about it. He is looking forward to getting started, meeting the challenge. I'm pretty sure its not just to get out of the house and away from me either.
When I was in 5th grade, I had a different experience. And as an adult, I tend to expect my kid to have similar experience to what I had. But, I also give him room to have his own experience. Fortunately, he appears to be having a great experience, and has expressed the excitement and goals for this year.
I'm proud of my kid!
I started this blog as a way to sift through my thoughts and let people know that they were not alone with their thoughts. Others have and are experiencing similar situations and getting through things are easier if we know others have succeeded.
I'm proud to say that I have a solid, mature, confident 5th grader. Today is his last time for a first day of elementary school. And, he is excited about it. He is looking forward to getting started, meeting the challenge. I'm pretty sure its not just to get out of the house and away from me either.
When I was in 5th grade, I had a different experience. And as an adult, I tend to expect my kid to have similar experience to what I had. But, I also give him room to have his own experience. Fortunately, he appears to be having a great experience, and has expressed the excitement and goals for this year.
I'm proud of my kid!
Monday, August 18, 2014
Epic Ride and Beach Time
We saved our money for a while and finally had enough to make the trek down to the beach. We loaded up and headed to Charleston and then north to Buck Hall Rec Area. I had actually planned ahead and made reservations at the campground there. We pulled up to our campsite and started to unload when things went downhill. The kid started running to the van screaming that something was biting him. I looked down and saw no less than 10 mosquitoes had landed on my skin. The wife was slapping the ones that were attacking her. We retreated to the bathhouse then reconvened back at the van. We decided to donate the cost of our reserved campsite and hunt down an affordable hotel.
Through the course of eating dinner, we found Comfort Suites in Mt Pleasant. While the rate was not what I would call affordable, we decided to go for it and stay at least one night. Our budget would be blown but we were at the beach and we were determined to enjoy it.
After moving into the room we headed out to the beach to watch the sunset. After we got back to the hotel. We were so pleased with how we were being treated, and how clean and comfortable our room was, that we ended up committing to stay 3 nights.
As the temps climbed towards the mid 90's Joel was having a rough time. But what he did not mention in his post was that he had been out past midnite the night before, riding 50 + miles and working on his set up for the upcoming Trans North Ga Race!
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Gravel Ride
Once again, Mike pulls off a great loop and we avoid anything epic!
Monday, August 11, 2014
A Friend Needs Your Help
Click here to donate:
http://www.gofundme.com/JaimeeJohnson
2 yrs ago, Jaimee Johnsen moved to Asheville, NC looking for a change of scenery and a new start. Most of you reading this have been in that situation.
Jaimee jumped in feet first, volunteering for Trips For Kids WNC, and helping out at local races such as ORAMM and PMBAR. She got hooked on bikes and became so passionate about sharing her new love, that she recently landed a job working at Sycamore Cycles in Hendersonville.
She started training and racing and was becoming quite a fierce competitor.
On Wednesday, August 6th, Jaimee was wrapping up a training ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway, when a vehicle made a left turn in front of her. With nowhere to go, she hit the car with the collision causing her to flip over the bars and land in the hospital. Concussion, fractured skull, fractured femur, damage to ACL and PCL are some of the injuries.
We have all been in a position where we coule use a little help from our friends. Some of us have been in a position where we could use a lot of help from our friends. Jaimee is in the latter position.
5 days in the hospital, combined with recovery and rehab treatments in the future will leave her with a lot of medical bills. In addition, it will be a while before she can return to work and earn some income. Rent, food, and other bills will add up quickly.
The good news is that Western North Carolina has a tight cycling community. A community that supports each other in victory and defeat. And this is our time to come together and help one of our own. Knowing that it could be any one of us at anytime who needs a helping hand, this is our time to help Jaimee.
Thanks in advance,
Stephen Janes
http://www.gofundme.com/JaimeeJohnson
2 yrs ago, Jaimee Johnsen moved to Asheville, NC looking for a change of scenery and a new start. Most of you reading this have been in that situation.
Jaimee jumped in feet first, volunteering for Trips For Kids WNC, and helping out at local races such as ORAMM and PMBAR. She got hooked on bikes and became so passionate about sharing her new love, that she recently landed a job working at Sycamore Cycles in Hendersonville.
She started training and racing and was becoming quite a fierce competitor.
On Wednesday, August 6th, Jaimee was wrapping up a training ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway, when a vehicle made a left turn in front of her. With nowhere to go, she hit the car with the collision causing her to flip over the bars and land in the hospital. Concussion, fractured skull, fractured femur, damage to ACL and PCL are some of the injuries.
We have all been in a position where we coule use a little help from our friends. Some of us have been in a position where we could use a lot of help from our friends. Jaimee is in the latter position.
5 days in the hospital, combined with recovery and rehab treatments in the future will leave her with a lot of medical bills. In addition, it will be a while before she can return to work and earn some income. Rent, food, and other bills will add up quickly.
The good news is that Western North Carolina has a tight cycling community. A community that supports each other in victory and defeat. And this is our time to come together and help one of our own. Knowing that it could be any one of us at anytime who needs a helping hand, this is our time to help Jaimee.
Thanks in advance,
Stephen Janes