Enjoyed another great visit up to the N. Ga Mtns. Weather was perfect. No humidity and in the 70s. Met some cool folks who invited us to campfire with them. Took the SS up because I'm fed up with my stupid geared rig. I was pretty trashed Sunday after a huge effort on Saturday. I set several PRs on P1,P2 and Bear Creek in addition to getting KOM on the climb from MG to Bear Creek! I am really proud of that one. I think being on the SS helped because I couldn't granny it up and get lazy. It was almost 40 minutes of nearly all out effort to the top of the climb. Then I had a blast bombing down BC though too many hikers (boo!). P1 was it's usual badass slap-in-the-face self with some serious climbing right after leaving Bear Creek. P2 went by quickly today although my time was longer than last July at around 35 minutes. Feelin' good climbing over to P2 although FS90B can suck it!. Need more fire road climbing! P2 downhill was so much fun although had to dodge hiker with dog and slow noob. Passed two freaks biking up P2 then I did the same going back to meet up with Renee. Always nice to meet back up with her after a while of solitude. Back down P2 again for a double-dip of downhill daring. Biked out to 52 to get a few road miles in to kill some time. Then dirt road back to MG for an epic ham supper. (Renee also caught a yellow jacket in the eye but didn't get stung.)
Campfire with banjo. New terms: race gravy, fire penis
horrible sleep Saturday night due to dogs crowding me off bed. ( I love em anyway.)
Sunday had epic huge bfast with tons of sugar,fat,carb. (french toast with sugared fruit, ham, chz eggs, coffee)
Off to P3 and P4 and finished some more awful fireroad climbing. Goddamn wish I had more than one gear at this point. P3 toasted me again although I wasn't really pushing. One day I will clean those switchbacks. Finally found P4 with an amazing view of Brasstown Bald at the entrance. It was pretty short and had some climbing. Memorable quote from one of the guys in the group after finishing P4, "Mountain biking is dumb" ,said in a whiny voice.
Bombed back down P3 which is always stoooopid fast. Showered for the first time in 2 days then drove home. Yeeha!
I sick as I was of those damn mountains I'm already clamoring to get back at em.
First year doing the Allatoona Creek race. Missed it last year because I had a duathlon on the same day. This course is sneakily difficult with the most challenging being the Mason's Bridge section. On a bike, it's easier and more fun because you can roll through all the dips but running through those is really tough. There aren't very many climbs and no big hills but that course is a grinder. There was a torrential rainfall a few days before the race so the first 3 miles was a mud run through open cross-country. I really liked this part though felt I got off to a slow start. Pacing is so difficult because I don't know how much energy I need to spare. Feet were wet out of the gate but it was no big deal. There's a twisted part of me that prefers adverse conditions. Went in to the singletrack section at Rusty Bucket and shuffled through twisty sections, not very fast through there. In fact, I felt leaden the entire race. I had ran the da...