The Year is almost done!!!

Well, 2007, was a heck of a journey. But its coming to an end. Tomorrow I plan to do several posts. One will be my own personal summary for the year, the other a flashback.

Well, after some long road rides on my Mamasita and the discovery that those tires I used on the Okechobe ride where a Lil too soft (i.e. a flat from a staple, and a flat from a tiny piece of glass) I decided to trash em and put the fatties back on. Looks so NICE!!!

I have been trying real hard to ignore road riding. But since, you know, everyone touts the benefits of it, I decided to set my cross check up again for road riding. One of the best cycling related decisions I made in 2007 was to get wobble naughted. The fit, is awesome. And although I love it I cant afford to get all my bikes fitted. So, I did some experimenting took some measurements from my Mamasita and applied it to my cross check. Just like on my Mamasita, I could go longer and lower on the front, but all in due time. Cant wait to test it to see how I did.

Before I finished working today, some kids were popping off some fire, so here it is for you, fireworks freshest catch of the day. Camera phones, NICE INVENTIONS!!!!

Happy New Year, check back soon,

Laters...

Ladies and Gentleman, meet..

The coolest 5 year old in the world. I have yet to meet one cooler then this guy. His Hair was so Fort Apache the Bronx, I wanted to get a Mohawk!!!!
This Saturday Just passed, we celebrated this young mans 5Th year of life. It was a joyous event, full of fun, action and adventure.
I have never hung a Pinata. Not hard to figure out, and tons of fun to bash, I have never seen someone suffer a beating like this Pinata did at the hands of said punk rock Mohawk birthday boy.
An uninvited guest to the party, but he crawled up my arm and posed for the pic.
And this Lil guy, decided to help kill the flies at the party. Thanks Mr. Lizard.

It was a fun day and I am a lucky man to have such a wonderful person in my life. It was truly a fantastic day and a time well spent. We finished it off with a spectacular artistic pit fire in my backyard and tons of beers and stories and good times. A great day indeed. Happy Birthday Gabe, may you have many more.

Its All About the RIDE!!!!!

I have been wanting to do this for a minute. In my job I drive around all the time. Well, I see people all the time riding bikes. Some are serious cyclist getting their morning miles in. Some are average people commuting or just living life by bike. Truth be told, there are many people out there that live life and their only form of transportation is the bike.

Well, thru the years I have decided I wanted to document what I see when it comes to the riders and update it, monthly or weekly whenever I capture some people in their moments. And this will be the first installment. I have shared the pictures with some, and needless to say, they found the pictures amusing.
Out of all, the pix I took, this lady was probably the only one out for fitness. She has her music playing, a Lil handlebar bag and a good pace. What a Champ!!
Now this dude was amazing to me. Jeans, t-shirt, sneakers, Mountain bike, AND full on Tour De France time trial tuck. I have no idea what dude was thinking.
This guy is famous in my town. You mention to anyone the older dude that dresses all teenage hip hop and instantly people recognize. Well on this day, I caught him, orange safety vest and a Motorcycle Helmet.
OK, Older dude, Purple bike, flip flops and an Enormous Grin on his face, what else is there to say.
This guy and his wife were cruising the local parking lot at K mart on matching outfits and trikes Christmas Day. One word, AWESOME!!

Hope you enjoy, its all I have for now, but the Hunt is still very much alive!!

The Journal of a L.O.S.T Rider

Whats harder, Riding your bike into the mountains, ascending for miles and then descending for miles. OR. Riding 100 plus miles of flat terrain? Riding the Flat is WAY harder and I will tell you why. When your riding in the mountains. You may spend several hours going uphill, and the entire time your pedaling and pedaling. But when you get to that 5 or 6 or even 10 mile downhill, your doing nothing but coasting. When your riding Flat Terrain for miles and miles, there is no break and the pedaling is constant. Everyone constantly says the phrase, "This is the hardest thing I have ever done on a bike," And I have to say for the moment, it was for me. I totally underestimated the magnitude of this ride. I totally underestimated how time consuming the dirt portion would be. Totally underestimated and miscalculated what would happen if we got lost in terms of rationing my supplies and my water. So ya, it was an enlightening experience for myself. I learned a lot about self supported touring and most important, I learned a lot about me. Lets Just say this, first mistake of the day for me, 3 hours of sleep is not sufficient rest for an undertaking of this magnitude.
Being a person who values his Indigenous beliefs. When I started the day with a sighting of the Thunderbird, I knew it was an Ominous Omen. Lil did I know what laid ahead.
My weapon of choice, the beautiful Salsa Mamasita, equipped with very skinny road touring tires. That would be my second mistake of the day, I underestimated how rough the dirt roads would be and the tires were translating every rock and pebble and crevice into my frame and my body. Not so Fun. :O(
Dave Snow's Dos Niner. Sweet ride, great paint job.
Congrats to Dave who finished 3rd overall in his class for the Florida State Championship series. He was showing his XC skills at the start and he was hauling some serious butt. Eventually, I had to tell him to go on without me and call me when he finished, because, the lack of sleep thing started to get to me eventually.
This was the common view on the clockwise route towards the lake. Not much to see, everywhere you looked you could see for miles and miles. It was a little daunting to say the least.

More vastness to look at.

I don't know what was worst of the off road portion of the ride. The rocky parts or the grassy parts. One section would rob you of momentum, the other one would rattle me needlessly. At this point I was regretting my tire choice.
I started practicing my rolling self portraits, here is me, early in to the 40 miles of dirt roads.
And more, doesn't look so bad and I bet it wouldn't be if I would of had some fatties.
Here is a shot, check out the skinny road/touring tire, just feeding me suffering on the dirt roads.
Yea, sweating is good. Cause at one point, I had to ride without water for close to ten miles. When I finally met up with Dave again, I was drinking water from a trailer park water faucet as if I had been traversing the desert. Pretty funny.
Dave Snow and his Snowy cranes. These birds would fly, then land, and he would approach and they would get up and fly some more, it was pretty funny.

The Cranes again.

Just look. It goes on into the horizon. Eventually, it was mentally exhausting for me to try and wrap my mind around the magnitude of the ride. It helped to break it down into section by section which turned out to be my saving grace in the end.

Wicked dead woods on the left.

Eventually, after Dave took off. I straight up laid write on the pavement you see here and took a well needed 20 minute map. Lets just say after miles and miles of dirt, you then had miles and miles of relentless headwind. The Nap, helped and I started rolling and feeling good. Even though I was fighting a head wind or a cross wind I was enjoying myself, Finally.
There is my favorite riding partner. He is the only one that cant out ride me and never leaves.

More self portrait shots.

And even more.

I took a picture of this for one reason only. This was the Stank Swamp. It smelled like rotten baby poo and it would come and go, for miles. AWFUL!
Finally, a refuge, I made it to Clewiston and I was pretty happy. I restocked on water and took a picture of the map.
Followed up by a shot of me feeling good, with the self timer. Check out my nashbar handlebar bag. I had to modify it on the fly, and I wasn't even able to use it thru the dirt sections cause if I activated the shock it would rub the front tire. Eventually I strapped it to my back till I got back on the pavement. Thank God I had electrical tape, cause I was able to use it to reinforce the stretchy strap and pull it over my stem to keep it off my front tire. Not long after this, I got tired of fighting the wind and laid down and took another 20 minute nap. I must of looked like some weird hobo laying on the ground. But except for the occasional passing boat, there was no one around to see.
Sunset. I strapped on the light and readied myself for the night. Applied the bug spray and got ready for any possible cold. The cold never came. About 10 miles after this, I turned towards the north and the wind that had been just crushing me turned into the sweetest Tailwind EVER. For nearly 30 miles or so I averaged anywhere between 14 to 16 mph.

The bridge at the Miami canal, straight hauling ass.

And even better shot.

The night riding was the saving grace of the ride. It was the best, it was beautiful and poetic. Seeing the lights in the distance of the cities, seeing the views of the big lake finally, it was just splendid. The speed, the sights the sounds, were poetic. Eventually after Pahokee, I had to get off the trail and take the road, which was nice, till we turned out of town towards Port Mayaca which was a nasty rough road. On this road, it was pitch black and I got chased by not one set of pit bulls, but two. It almost killed me to go that fast after riding 90 miles. I eventually got worried about Dave and thought he would have called me a long time ago. So I placed a call around 830 and he was 20 or so miles up the road and he had finally finished. Not wanting him to sit and wait for 1.5 hours or more for me to finish, I told him to come on down and get me. In retrospect I know I could of finished it, I had the strength the speed and the determination. There were times I wanted to quit, but I had no choice to push on. Now, will I ever do it again, Yes, cause I want to complete what I started, but, this time, I think I will start in the dark, sleep till the morning on the trail somewhere and then ride out into the morning.
Laters...

Self Supported

Honestly, I don't think that people understand the gravity of those two words.

Imagine, how much more of a race the Tour De France would be if it was self supported. If those riders had to provide or arrange their own lodging for the 2o some odd stages, carry their own food, water and fix their mechanicals. It would completely change the race.

As it is, some people think it would be tough to do the Tour DE France. As well it might be, but c'mon, you got a car full of supplies following you the whole way, your team mates blocking the wind, how hard could it really be.

How many of you have done a self supported ride. I know there are tons of people who have done it, but Off road, how many have done it. I personally don't know many who have. Now some would argue that their 20 to 30 off road rides are self supported and I would agree. Your carrying your own food and water for the distance then congratulations, you are self supported.

Now, the past couple of days, those words have haunted me. This Saturday I'm going to venture on the longest ride of my life, some of it off road, 110 miles, completely self supported.

I don't know how I feel about it. But I have been doing some math.

I did the Horrible Hundred, 102 miles, in 7 hours and 40 something minutes. I got to do 8 more miles then that on Saturday. So lets round it up to nine hours. 200 calories for 9 hours, is 1800 calories that I have to carry.

So here is what I plan to carry on Saturday:

My emergency epic ride mechanical kit. Refer to the Pisgah posts to see all that is in that kit.
Some bug spray for sure and a light, just in case I run out of sun.
A rain jacket for sure cause I hear its going to rain.
Some sun block.
100 oz of water. I also now have the option to carry an additional 50oz in the same pack by just putting another bladder in the storage area of my camelbak.
I can ride 45 miles off road easy with 100oz of H2O. So I may carry the 50 and just plan on restocking. Or should I just carry 1500z so I have to stop less. Decisions, decisions.
And the 1800 Calories of food. I plan on dividing that food, amongst, granola bars, trail mix, Cajun trail mix, gummy worms and some candy bars.
Finally, my music, with some speakers so as not to shut the person who is riding with me out.

I will have a large saddle pack to put my emergency mechanical kit in. My handlebar bag for everything else. And my camelbak will carry my water and nothing else.

Self support at its finest.

Whats also a Lil bit intimidating about this ride is that there is no bail out. If I get tired, I still got to pedal my way out. So determination is the only mindset that I shall have, because this is a ride that I MUST finish, no two ways about it.

I will take tons of pictures and I will of course share. I just hope I don't end up brain dead like I did after the Horrible Hundred.


Laters..

Episode 1: Truth is Stranger Than Fiction

I went to a party this weekend. A real party, with a beer tub and tons of people I haven't seen or spent time with in years.

That is not the strange part.

I got to do a make up thanksgiving dinner with my brother William and his family. My brother is an amazing fellow and a huge influence on my life. He is also a commercial airline pilot and he had to work for the holiday so it was nice to chill and relax. I rode my bike over to at least get some miles in. It wasn't enough.

But, that is not the strange part.

Early Sunday, I slept in. Was planning to go to the last race of the series, but felt very guilty about waking my poor Lil wife up super early on her day off when she gets up at 4 am everyday of the week as it is. So I skipped the race and the ride and just spent Q.T. time with her.

OK, still not the strange part.

That Sunday evening, we visited some friends hung out and relaxed. My friend told me that his Uncle, spends a good amount of free time, filling out Lil forms for every single contest and giveaway he can find. He says he remembers as a kid, spending hours over his house just filling out entry forms. Consequently, the dude wins free stuff all the time and all types of free stuff.

That IS stranger than fiction.

Amazing.

Time to Get L.O.S.T.

I am planning to do four 100 mile races next year. And I am in the process of preparing myself. Which means, lots and lots of miles and hours and hours of saddle time.

While scouring the net for a ride that would provide 100 plus miles of terrain with some off road and road mixed, I came across a link to the Lake Okeechobee scenic trail aka L.O.S.T.

Since my discovery, I have been planning and preparing for the 110 mile circumnavigational trip around the biggest lake in Florida.

This Saturday the 15Th, I will undertake the trip.

I bought a sweet Handlebar bag to experiment with for the trip. I plan to take my camelbak and freeze the night before 2 bottles of Gatorade for a variety of drinks. According to the map, there should be water every 20 miles or so.

On my Mamasita, I plan to put some touring/cross tires I have that are super slick. I was a lil concerned they would give me trouble in the dirt, but I remembered how I used to ride my road bike on dirt roads all the time and this is supposed to be shell based double track and pretty hard packed.

I will fill you in with photos and a report once my mission is completed.

Laters...

UnIfIcAtIoN rIdE

I finally did it and looped all the off road that I scrounged together in West Volusia, with the forced road connections and completed the ride. The totals speak for themselves. I didn't feel so good today on the ride, but I recently fell off the wagon and started sneaking a soda here and there and eating fast food. And today I could totally feel it. Time to get back on the wagon and cut out the crap.

The ride went smooth and it was good. The most amusing thing I witnessed was two Male Gopher turtles locked in a battle for Dominance. I wish I would of had my camera.

Here is my Garmin Data enjoy:

Unification Ride

2007 Horrible Hundred: Photo Journal

My COCK pit for the next 102 plus miles.

The weather was a tad chilly that Sunday, but I knew, that by the time I started riding, the weather would be perfect. As I made my way onto the event parking lot, I spent a good moment laughing at all the roadies who were decked out in leg and arm warmers as if it was cold enough to warrant such equipment.
There was a huge sand pit in the parking lot where we were sent to park. It was obvious to me, that if you didn't have the proper equipment you could easily get stuck. Well, first, a minivan got stuck and they pushed them out. Then a Lil mini suv got stuck and they pushed him out. Then right as I was finishing getting ready, this VW bug got stuck. Personally, I don't think men should be allowed to drive VW bugs as they are clearly chick cars. And Secondly, Its obvious, Roadies and dirt don't mix.
This guy tried to pull him out, but the rope broke.The Start: I don't know how many hundreds of people were there, but this was about 1/4 shot of the crowd at the line.Before the start there were two people flying over head on these.For the first 50 miles or so, I kept my camera tied onto my grip. I guess I was hoping to catch a bunch of action shots. Eventually I got too caught up in trying to ride with a group to save time, so I ended up with this one action shot early in the ride.

This was at rest stop one. Lots and lots of people who need a drink.

Me at rest stop two or three I forget, I know I was 47 miles into the ride at this point and the infamous Ron Bennett aka one lap, took this picture. I did the entire ride on my 29er in preparation for all the off road hundies I will do next year. I figure, If I'm going to ride 100 miles in the woods, I need to find out how comfortable my bike will be for the long haul. What did I discover, yea, I think I could do it, though I spent many a minute wondering.
Here is the photographer from the previous shot. After this stop, I saw him at OZ stop. After that one, he decided he didn't want to push himself anymore and ended the day with a miserable metric.

Here are the ride totals. Hope you enjoy!

The Brown Feathered Cannibal

I must have been six years old. I remember, every morning, peeking out the window, looking up at the adobe attic vent and there he was, every day.

I remember, meeting with him and his friend. He was covered in a white glowing coat. He sung me a song that night and told me many things. About life, about death, about history. He also told me about Kain and that he would be a dark haired big and healthy boy.

I remember seeing him at my college graduation on the way there. Seeing him in the middle of the day, sitting on a tree, on the side of the road.

I remember one evening, my friend showed up with a sacred package. Inside was his cousin. He had been hit by a car. I did the honorable thing and gave him a blessing, clipped his winds and saved the feathers, cleaning each one and everyone by hand. I buried him for 90 days and went back and got his skull, it was a fair and meaningful exchange.

When Kailan was born, the doctor said a small flap in his heart had not closed. I spent many a night praying very hard, that he would be OK. They called it a heart murmur and said it was a pretty natural occurrence, but he had to stay in the hospital a couple of days and had to have a couple of x rays of his chest and follow ups to make sure that his little heart closed up. The first night we made it home, I had a visit outside my window and heard him giving my son and myself a heartfelt welcome.

On night rides, sometimes, I would come across two or three, running the trail with me. On solo rides at Snow hill I would hear him singing me songs in the distance.

Not too long ago, It was about Eleven in the morning. The blue jay's were screaming and I could tell they were mad about something. And sure enough, there he was, chomping on a fellow blue jay that he had somehow snatched up. And although they complained, they could do nothing but watch as he consumed their former family member. Eventually, they left. And then it was just him and I. I walked up, and took a picture, and as he stared deep in my eyes, I stared deep in his. I thanked him and walked away.

We all have a Guardian. Some are not lucky enough to ever see him or ever meet him. Me, I see him all the time. And he just happens to be a Cannibal.

Flashback: November 3, 2007 The Final Countdown: The last days of Razorback.

Note: Its important while reading this that you have this tune in your head.


Razorback. The Best Trail in Florida. And its no news to anyone now that its gone. Denial was a way to describe the way I felt and still do. I don't want to believe that its closed.

Razorback. My last ride, was a battle to conquer sections of the trail I never conquered. I did a dusk ride and a night ride and I kicked the place's ass. The only climb I didn't make and will apparently never have the chance to make is clay climb.

Everything else I cleaned at a cosmic level it seemed as my spirit was determined unconsciously pouring all my effort into cleaning the trail. All my good fortune did not go unpaid as I crashed after a sick nose wheelie in the last pit before the last climb. It was a scary crash, but thankfully, I came away unscathed as did my bike.

Razorback was a place that I had much pride in being able to ride well. It was the first place I got my first top five finish. It was the only trail that one day would make me feel like a hero and others would make me feel like a zero. The first place I ever raced the yellow wave. The first and only place in Florida I raced a 12 hour at. It was a trail I truly loved from deep inside.

Razorback, the loss of it, is a blow to the Florida MTB community. And although we will always search for a replacement, I don't think we will find it.

I camped there too many times to count. Luckily I had a chance to participate in the last goneriding event that was held there.

That night as we all drank well past our fill. And as we all witnessed the tomfoolery that was afoot and the fireworks and the good times. I appreciated every turn and granule of dirt and stone that made up my final ride. I marveled at the corners and pummeled the climbs, realizing that it was all too soon going to be a thing of the past.

Here is to you Razorback, may your path to the other side be one of complete benefit. May your path to the otherside, be one where you see your family members and spend time enjoying the proverbial happy hunting grounds that await.

AHON!

Flashback: October 26th, 27th and 28th Pisgah National Forests

I wonder along from one cycling adventure to the next. Wonder along from one self created goal to the next. This is what I choose to do with my cycling. My warrior spirit runs deep synonymous with my adventurous spirit which takes me from challenge to challenge.

Well, earlier this year, reading Bike Magazine, I stumbled over a small sidebar article about the Great Divide Race. Well, I seemed to have remember reading about it the previous year and remembering about it catching my attention. Mainly the part about no entry fee.

Then I remembered back even further, early in my cycling career reading about John Stamstad and how he had done the ride, etc.

Well, while looking at Namrita O's blog, I read a note about the race starting soon, I don't exactly remember what it said.

But I stumbled across the site, and read, and read, and was hooked for days. And since then I have continued to investigate and ultimately I have the desire to do the Great Divide Race. I set a self goal of 2010. But, it may not be realistic. We will have to see what happens.

Fast Forward about a week to October 17Th where I received an message from Luis, fellow MTB'r and adventurer, asking if I was interested in heading towards Pisgah for the weekend of the 27Th.

Now I had planned to go do my first 12 hour race at pine log that weekend. But, since I had broken my finger, and the thought of riding in the mountains vs. riding laps on a flat trail, had me really leaning towards Pisgah. In the end it was a no brainer and I told Luis that I was all in.

It was a Renegade Run. Meet at his place around 9pm on Thursday, drive all night, a straight ten hours to Pisgah. Find a campsite by the luck of the Irish, set up camp, rest, and ride in the afternoon/evening.

Short Ride Friday, Epic on Saturday and a short ride Sunday Morning.

Now the creator works in mysterious ways. Riding in those mountains takes some serious climbing and some serious navigating. Not only that, but depending on your route, it takes some back country riding skills as well. All skills I need to start developing if I ever desire to undertake the GDR.

Well, Luis is apparently well versed in all these skills and it turned out to be a very productive and educational weekend for me.

Turns out, Luis' Birthday is the 23rd and mines is the 24Th. So this was turning into a birthday celebration getaway for each of us. The drive to his house was smooth and the drive up to Pisgah was smooth as well. With the exception of me being unable to keep awake for the entire ride and feeling a Lil guilty that I was not an acceptable co pilot, the ride went perfect.

We were going to stay at Mills River, but turns out, just for the heck of it, he wanted to check out if Davidson River would have any available spots. Luis shared with me a tale of him arriving to that park at 5am only to find a line halfway around the base of the mountain. He says Lima, His wife, didn't get them a spot till 12 hours later.

I told Luis I felt good about getting a site, and sure enough we pull up and there were plenty of sites available. Despite a Lil mix up at the beginning we ended up in a pristine spot. The campgrounds were super nice and I would definitely stay there again.

We set up tents, and got some sleep. Woke up and went shopping, came back, got ready and rolled out.

Now, to me, this was all new, but after some searching and some speaking, this is actually a very familiar destination to alot of people. I guess, in many ways, I'm still a virgin MTBr. We started with a long fire road climb behind the horse stables up Black Mountain. I don't know exactly how long the ride up the road was. But I do know that from the camp site to the fork near the top ended up being seven miles. Now, we started Hiking. Which is not a Florida rider tradition, but from what I later learned, a common practice amongst Pisgah locals. And we hiked and Hiked till we reached the top. The view was spectacular but dark was approaching. Now Luis tells me, "O yea, that's it from hear on out, its downhill,". Well the downhill lasted about 10 seconds before we made the turn and hit the steepest section of hike a bike that we had encountered all afternoon.

We stopped, put on our lights, and kept going. Eventually we started downhilling. My finger at the time, was still in its process of healing as it is now. But it was much more tender at the time. And although I had 100% grip on my left hand, my right hand was only about 60%. Usually, I'm a unstoppable downhill assassin. But, before I departed, my mother, gave me the most Ides of march warning I have ever heard from her to be careful. And it kinda stuck with me the entire weekend. Not only was I a Lil crippled, but I was now being extra careful on every descent. So, poor Luis, was not only having to wait on the uphills, but on the downhills as well.

We eventually made it back to camp with 13 or so miles under our belt thus completing our day one adventure.

Day one rounded off with a campsite cooking extravaganza workshop. Luis, utilizing his small portable burner and fluid, made the best Angel Hair pasta spicy marinara mushroom sauce combo I have ever had. It was tasty and although we both ate till we were full, there was still left overs. Not long after we both went to bed and I got terrific rest, whereas Luis, spent the night cold.

The next day we got up and got ready early. Ate breakfast which consisted of a couple of cheese sandwiches for me and prepared our packs for the epic. Now I got my Epic pack done up pretty good, I can carry on my person and my bike 3 water bottles and a 100 oz camelbak. On my bike in the fanny pack:
2 tubes
4 inches of chain
2 powerlinks
4 CO2 cartridges
1 Multitool

In my camelbak:
1 Roll Of electrical tape
1 Lighter
1 LED Headlight
1 Long Sleeve Rain Jacket
1 Full Polar Water bottle
3 Granola Bars
2 Gels
1 Cell Phone
1 wannabe Leatherman tool

What I need to get for the future is a map and a water filter.

Regardless, I was ready for anything and anxious to get the days adventure started. We roll out and start with the same climb we did the day before up Black Mountain. The plan, was instead of forking right at that spot we would go left pass the infamous Gingerbread house and along the ridge to a route that Luis had been plotting.

Well, I made it up the climb way quicker on this day then the previous day. We paused momentarily and continued happily on our way. The day went great. We got lost climbed and descended many, many miles. And the Vistas were spectacular. My climbing legs had really come in. Sometimes we would climb together, others he would ride away. Same with the downhills. There were some downhills you could really cut the bike loose, but since I was concerned with crashing, on the technical downhills I really took caution and care to not harm myself. It was a real bummer not to be able to unleash an assault on the downhills like I usually do, but regardless, the mission was to make it one piece. I had two forced dismounts, but no serious crashes. One was on the ridiculous boulder filled descent on Bennett Gap, where I started to feel the bike going into an Endo and chose to push away the bike and bail then trying to ride it out. On that particular crash I panicked gripped with my right hand so hard, that I actually bent the splint I was wearing on my broken finger. On the dismount the back of my testicles got rubbed by the back of my seat which caused quite a bit of pain, but I survived.

Some of the spots we came down, I would lose my Momentum and be forced to walk. But it was all good. Close to mile 34 or so, I ran out of food, and I was low on sugar. If I had a coke or something I could of mustered more motivation. But Luis could see on my face my motivation loss and we made our way back to camp. That completed our ride for day 2 and it was another fantastic epic ride in the mountains.

We had Burrito's for dinner, fire at the camp and plenty of beers. The night ended shortly after before the fire started dying down. We had some good campfire laughs and conversations and shortly crawled our ways into our tents and spent a really cold night. I Had to completely submerge my head inside the bag to stay warm since my bag was only rated to 40 degrees. Luis, was even worst off then I was and said he barely slept cause of the cold.

The next day we wanted to ride, but we both decided to just pack up and roll out. We packed up drove another smooth 10 hours back to Tampa. I packed up my car and drove home. Thankful and grateful for the great trip and weekend I had out in Pisgah forest. I have some more plans for that place. I'm plotting a little overnight 100 mile trip across the mountain and maybe even a race or two out there. We will have to see.

Check out Luis pictures.

Till Next time,

Laters....