Skip to main content

Mulberry Gap visit

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.

Popular posts from this blog

Blue Ridge Triathlon race report

First of all, huge thanks to my wife Renee for getting up with me at 4am to get ready for the race and providing pit crew and moral support! Went into my 3rd triathlon in Blue Ridge, GA pretty confident after spending this year ramping up my swim at the Aquatic Center and Open Water Swims at Lake Allatoona.  Swimming being my main limiter and  biking and running, my strengths.  I never realized just how much technique is involved with swimming and it's been a challenge to get faster in the water and to also become comfortable in open water. For this race, I knew I would have no problem with the Sprint distance: 600 yard swim, 18 mile bike, 3.2 mile run. No I don't have an expensive Tri bike with aero wheels, aero bars or aero helmet. In fact, you'd laugh at how much my race bike costs. Hey, I figure I'll build my body up first before diving in fully with the expensive gear. Rested 3 days prior and was battling a groin/adductor pull.  Hurts like crazy unless legs a

Bassline of the week!

 I heard this song on a run today and realized what a great bass part it has.  That's Tina Weymouth from  Talking Heads' playing on "Born Under Punches."  Tina, in my opinion, is a consistently underrated bassist.  She really has such a minimalist style. This bassline does exactly what it needs to and nothing more, simple and effective.  It definitely gets bonus points for being in such a quirky time signature as well!  She also uses space and air between notes to provide extra, er, punch.   It's such a strange song frankly, with typical Talking Heads bizarre lyrics, seemingly random guitar licks and synth for that matter. Tina's part could've fallen through the cracks and her slap-and-pop style on the track helps the bass break through the mix a bit. This song is a great example of bass parts that just groove and are perfect in their simplicity.  Enjoy and thanks for reading!

Raleigh, etc.

It's hot here in Raleigh and I'm stuck in a windowless tiny office writing a technical manual. Actually I'm not writing much of anything. Sometimes the well dries up. I had a pretty bad crash last night on 286. Came through the other side of a creek crossing and front wheel washed out in some loose rocks. I may have applied to much front brake inexplicably.  Really trying to lay off the brakes more and more. Anyway, left elbow and knee are banged up and plenty of road rash. As they say, that's racing. There is a race Saturday here that I thought about entering on a lark but now I may not.