Hey! Where did he go!?

hello again. I hope you all are well. it has been a while, for sure! well here is what's up:
I got my driver's license and stopped commuting daily. this happend right after the last post before that little 1200k. which, went pretty good, finishing in 75 hrs with Jerry & Ian after a splendid overnight ride in the mountains! 

I took some time off the bike. I was a bit burned out after living on them for 7 years. I got into bass guitar, which has been a long time love of mine. Of course that became another 'gear habit' I didn't need but, oh never mind..
It took no time at all for the fitness to fade-by winter I was up about 15 lbs. In january 2013 I rode a 300k. ugh. my endurance was 'ok', but speed and power were gone. it was a bit of a downer. when I showed up in the spring for the local series I was convinced I would ride back into form by the 600. not. even. close. I suffered thru all the rides, with the 400 taking nearly 5hrs more than the 2 previous years. I was not a happy camper, to say the least. One of my best buds, Tim, said I was "spending too much time playing in the dirt." He was referring to my renewed interest in mountainbiking. He was probably right..The rest of the year was a slog too. I did take some bass lessons, and saw some killer concerts. Music was good! I also sold some bikes and parts. They grew back..

I decided in 2014 I was going to turn it around. s l o w l y. I took a shot at an R finally and made sure to get a 200k in every month. with a car this is easier to accomplish. when spring came I was riding. often. still not commuting much though..from the series start 'til june I went every weekend for 13 straight weeks. results were coming gradually. july 4th was a hot as hell 300k out of salisbury,nc. spent most of it with Tim and we had fun but weren't fast. oh well. I had a weird drivetrain prob that took some time to figure out and missed the next couple longer rides. My redeaming ride of the year was the 'picnic ride' (200k) in August. I took my Bianchi Pista fixed gear and solo'd the course in 7:39. I probably spent the 39 min. off the bike and could have really done it close to 7hrs..I felt good about that day. I did keep the streak alive and got my first R in january!
This year has been an even better ride. I saw a post by a friend saying they were putting together a 1200k in Florida. since I am not going to France, this sounded cool. I signed up the minute it opened up. I needed a big goal. A target. Let's train. 
I rode one of Tony's 300k's in january. It was cold, and slow. I did another in February, and it was cold and slow too. the rest of Feb was a loss, it was just miserable weather this year. Things picked up in march and I managed a couple more perms. April was the big ramp up-100k, 200k, then a 300k in va, and a rainy 300k here. A week later on may 2 we returned to Va for a 400k. it went well, I rode the whole thing with Lynn, and other than finding out the rain had killed my garmin (i'll do separate post on that) it was a smooth ride. we love those roads up there! ya gotta go! after that, it was 9 days to Florida..
whew, that report is next, stay tuned...

allright, let's get caught up!

hey ev'ry body! 
sorry for the long absence. things are good, just been living in a vacuum. work. sleep. ride.

after the rainy lake loop, I enjoyed two trips on Dean's tarheel 200 to round out my brevets for the year. 1st time just before thanksgiving- foggy, fabulous, and in Byron's words: "we finished with the shades on!" it looked something like this

 

the fog left us dew'y and damp 'til the sun was out a bit. after the steadman control it was nothing short of a perfect ride. well, Tom rolled a tire and fell, but was fine and finished in good shape! I really couldn't wait to ride this route again..

flanderian fantasy?

talk about dedication. or insanity? with gawdawful weather looming for the whole day, most rides in the area were cancelled....most....

since it was the first day of the month, another check mark could go down for the elusive R-12. 5 brave souls showed up to to ride the beautiful (should have been) kerr lake loop.
the bravest was Bryan making his first attempt at a 200k, on a rough day, smiling about his decision here at the start. mike preps his fixie, and byron readies for the inevitable..



i was loaded with optimistic illusions of this "shower" ending and having a fair weather day. NOT.. at the first control 25miles in Mike was there and ready to go when we arrived. a quick signing of the cards and a coffee drink and off we went. and off the "iron fixie twins" went! branson and mike were both on fixies and moving well. by 30 miles out they were gone not to be seen again. we forged ahead at a comfy pace and soon were nearing the lake. this is what stuff was looking like out there: wet and messy..


this was the 5th 200K on the serotta this year, it's a wonderful day-bike. I gotta get some clip on fenders! I've never gunked-up a road bike this bad..the roads were covered with leaves and clay and worms too! really toxic conditions, and the fender'd boys were hurtin' too, just not on their backs like me.. here's the obligatory dam shot:by now we're more in heavy mist, and by 70 miles or so it stopped raining on us. fear not tho, we'd stay wet all day. all the gear was soaked and it was too cold and damp to dry out. naturally, everyone out here was swathed in wool. sox, jerseys, and base layers were nothing but the fluffy sheep by-product. it worked like a charm. we tried bags in the shoes at the start and they were fine 'til full of water. so long baggies. this day really tested all the equipment. my favorite bag set-up: acorns front and back. the front had standing water in it. the rear was pummelled with spray all day. my canon was in a ziplock and still got wet! onward. skipwith, boydton, over the lake at clarksville, subway! a sitdown was in order so we enjoyed sandwiches and a seat.
a few miles down the road and we were in stovall lubing the chains while Bryan aquired pain relief for his knees. long, cold days are tough on the joints as any rider will admit.

after riding many,many rides 200K's (or less) off the back I have a strong connection with anyone suffering out on the road. we kept an eye on bryan to make sure he survived and finished this epic day. we made it to the oxford control and got the lights in order. i had pulled the batteries on a blinky that tried to run all day. byron had one not coming on so we traded. mine was working now and we were all lit. back-ups are good. with 10 to go a familiar voice called out from the roadside: Mikey! he said our lighting was quite good. side-bar: I can attest to byron's write-up on the little flashlight on the helmet: amazing! get one and blink the hell out of people on your commutes and find signs on brevets. make a great high beam for fast descents too...

after a couple dips in the road and the "grinder by the dogs" we were smellin' the barn.
arrival at the firehouse was 6:46. 10.5 hrs after departure. not bad for insane conditions. I had suprisingly good legs all day and had plenty left at the end. only problem was not hydrating enough. common error in the cold and rain. took a day or two to get it back..

mike, branson, byron, and myself all tip our cycling caps to bryan tho...
incredible first brevet! hopefully we didn't scar him permanently and he'll join us again soon, or next spring..really dude. it was fun in strange sort of way wasn't it??

tailwinds,
G-

busy, busy 200k

with so much going on, you keep your head down and gulp air like a swimmer in a race. not really, but that might work! last weekend i joined two rando buddies for my first 200k of the year. although a little apprehensive, it had to be done, and i knew i was in good hands. byron and mike ride at least one (200k) a month called a "permanent", which is what i hope to do from here on...
mike rode one the day before! thanks to that the pace was described as leisurely! i called it hanging on! worried about taking too much stuff i left the camera behind, no time to stop for the amazing fall colors on this beautiful loop up near the VA. line around kerr lake! no worries though, mike grabbed some pics with his phone. catch his story and photos here. 10 hrs. on a bike leaves plenty of time for introspection and wonder, but mostly grooving to the rhythm of your heart, breath, and whatever song is stuck in your head is what keeps you moving..i felt beat a few times but good in the end. ready to do it again after turkey day!

this weekend should have been the last visit to jail, but alas, it was not to be. i was reassigned to a different facility without being notified ahead of time. we found out at check-in and hit the street to catch a cab to the other 'joint'. by the time we arrived, stood around a gate calling in to a speaker box, repeatedly, and finally being told to go to a different part of the building, the voice in the box told us:"sgt. says your too late"! thanks..we'll come back later. maybe. think i'll try to do 'em at the real jail where i've been going. i got friends in there...