Green Pond, Lake Hartwell

I've been eyeing this location for a while, and finally the schedule and conditions allowed me to get down there.  I'm never sure what to expect when I go out windsurfing.  I check multiple forecasts but they are merely forecasts.  I've gotten pretty good at figuring out when to go, but sometimes, the weather changes. 

Today, the as I drove down the mountain, the temps climbed up above 60.  I decided to start with my shorty wetsuit and see how that felt.  It turned out to be a great decision, I was comfortable all afternoon. 

The wind was light, but forecast to pick up later, so I rigged the 7.0 meter sail and took off.  Thanks to a recommendation from my friend, I tacked upwind and got into a wider area of the lake. 

I sailed back and forth for a while until the wind kicked in, then it was on.  Blasting back and forth on the water, chasing sailboats, letting go of the worries that plague my day to day life....  nothing compares. 

After 3 hrs on the water, I was pretty whipped, so I headed back to shore, packed up and drove back home.  

Such a fun day on the water!

Hurricane Michael

Michael rolled through with lots of wind and lots of rain.  Windsurfing in the rain is not that fun and can be painful.  Being pelted in the eyes by raindrops at 25-30mph hurts! 

I waited until the rain let up and headed out to Lake Julian.  Winds were N Westerly which is the worst for inconsistent gusts.  Usually in these conditions, a gust hits, I get up to planing speed and then the gust is gone.  A lot of work for  a couple seconds of planing. 

But,  that's what I get for living in the mountains.  It is good to get out and work on my balance too. 

I lasted about an hour, in 25-35 mph gusts, then headed in.  The beach is upwind in these conditions too, so I had to swim it in the last 100 yards or so.  

Fun times, though. 

Mike Ride 2018

Mike called me up and wanted to do a multi day trip.  Nothing epic but some good metric century days.   I was in.  We planned on 3 days, 2 nights.  But....life.  You know when you go to the all you can eat buffet, and pile your plate up.  Then you see one more things that looks delicious and you add that to your plate?   You eat it all, and it was good, but that one more thing was a bit too much and now you have a tummy ache.....

That's my life right now.  My plate is full and I added one more thing.  Something that should have had me excited was causing stress.  But, priorities.   In the end we cut the trip down to 2 days, 1 night (24 hrs)

I'm finding that I am able to get away for 24 hrs at this point in life.  A couple of years ago, I wasn't satisfied with a short adventure, now,  I'm stoked.

Our chosen route was Brevard- hwy 276 to Waynesville- spend the night- Waynesville 276-215 to Rosman- Brevard.  90 miles=perfect.

 

We rode, we chatted with locals,  took pictures.  Talked about life and families and jobs and time off. 

Even with the full plate, the ride turned out to be just what the doctor ordered.  I'm looking forward to the next adventure!

Fonta Flora Barnburner 50k, 2018

 I signed up for this brand new race, thinking it would be fun to ride bikes with 199 friends. 
I have not been race training and don't intend to, I just want to be fit and ride bikes faster than if I was not fit.  Anyway,  I got to early check in and stopped for a moment at Whipoorwill Brewery to take in the view. 

 I went to Lake James State Park Campground and set up camp, chatted with the neighbors a bit, burned some wood and went to bed. I slept pretty good in my adult treehouse mounted on my truck.   Another camper's dog kept barking periodically at random things in the dark, but other than that, I slept pretty well. 

 Up at the crack of dawn, which is now around 7am.  I love, love, love a race with a 9am start!  That extra hour really helps give me time to eat and drink some coffee without feeling that gross early morning pre-6am sluggishness! 

 I was going to line up at the back of the field to make sure I didn't race.  When I rolled up to the start, my plan was shattered.  People were starting to gather, but there was a ton of room in the front.  Oh, well.  I parked it in the second row and waited.  People filled in a little bit, but not many.  I was sitting in the top 25 before the start..... not a good sign.

We started the race and the pace went pretty high pretty quick. A mile or two of pavement into a mile of slightly downhill gravel and I decided to push the pace.  I was hoping to get in with a decent group for the single track, or at least get on my own and not have to deal with traffic.  Traffic on the punchy climbs would be stop and go and not much fun. 

Into the single track, I found myself at the back of a group of 10, everyone going the same pace as the guy at the front.  Hmm,  not good for me.  I started respectfully requesting passes.  It was working.  I asked one dude for a pass, he said" There are 25 guys in front of us" I said, "That's racing".  I asked again to pass and he kind of move to the right.  As I was passing, he took a couple of strong pedal strokes to match my passing pace, and we almost collided.  I kept calm and moved on and never saw him again. 

As my heartrate went up around 180, I found a good place and settled down into my rythym.  I found a couple of good people to ride with and set the pace. 

Well, so much for not racing.  I had put the effort in and if I slowed down now, I would get passed and have to yo yo for the next 2 hours. 

About 2 hrs and 15 minutes in , I was feeling it and ready to be done.  Still had around an hour to go though.  My nutrition was perfect.  It was so hot and muggy that I was drinking more than normal, but a quick stop to refill with Coke at one of the rest stops had me left with enough fuel that I would not have to stop. 

Still I was in that slump.  On the tight, twisty, punchy single track, I could see people in front and behind me.  I yo yo'ed with a couple of people.  I was following a group of 3.  Rachel was leading.  The guy behind her dropped a chain, the guy behind him, ran into him on the little climb, and I ran into him. Like rush hour on I-26.    I ran up the hill and got back on the bike.  Within a couple of minutes I caught Rachel on a short decent.   Her pace was a little faster than my "I wish I were done pace" so I stuck with her.  That was great, just what I needed to get out of the woods. 

We hit the pavement and sprinted the last mile to the finish:  I wound up 53rd overall, 25th in Master's and 1st (unofficial single speed)!!