Looking forward from the side

Things are as they should be.  Pisgah Monster Cross checked off the to-do list.  Two year old patch finally sewn onto my travel courier satchel.

Level achieved!

Now all I have to do is get the Double Dare officially finished, and I won't have much more to-do list to do.  As far as the King of Pisgah Series goes, I dropped like a pumice stone (not quite as fast as a normal stone), from 5th to 7th, woulda been further had Sam Evans not dropped out due to illness.  Sorry, Sam.

Gravel cycle racing is such a cruel mistress on the SS, and all those shifty competitors hurt me due to this (fair) rule:

"Points are awarded based on overall race results of each race, including non-series participants."

So all those people in front of me... 49 of them to be exact, they all hurt me, none more mentally than these two that kept me from leapfrogging ahead a couple more points:

photo cred: Steve Barker/Icon Media Asheville

 Had my head been in the game, I shoulda yelled "KING OF PISGAH POINTS ON THE LINE!  OUT OF THE WAY!!  YOU MAY COST ME MY 6TH PLACE AND YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I LIKE THE NUMBER 6!!!"

Brad Cobb, Captain Morgan and Scott Rusinko all got ahead of me in the points, Scott a somewhat reachable three points (coulda been one, unnh) away.  I don't think I'll get those spots back... unless the weather is PERFECT at Double Dare AND I'm somehow convinced to shoot for something more than just a finish.   Fewer participants, smaller gaps in placings, harder to move up in the points... but on the bright side, just as hard to fall down.

Hey now.  Tab Tollett (right in the above picture) races for Motor Mile Racing, Brad Cobb races for Motor Mile... I've been conspired against all along.*

Another thing back to how it should be?

Muh bike.  3.0 Chronicle back up front, 2.35 Ikon in the rear.  Thomson drooper post still inserted in the proper hole.  I said I was going to take it off after PMC, but honestly I'm having a hard time parting ways with this technological wünder.  Everything just feels so right about this, so much so that I can't wait to "race" the 2015 Trans-Sylvania Epic (registration is live BTW) with this exact setup.  I'm loving the 29+... to the point where I'm fat-curious.  SRSLY.  I probably won't do anything about it, more due to apathy and preconceived notions than a lack of desire to part with funds.

I need to go to Outerbike and ride fat-bikes until I decide I totally hate them.  The plane ticket would be much cheaper than the money I'd lose trying to sell off my three month old, used fat bike.

*Before anyone gets their panties in a wad, I don't actually care that much about where I place in the KOP.  I know I'm not top three material, and those are the places that matter... although I do really like getting sixth place when I can't get on the podium.

And before I can let it go...

Jens is going for the hour record tomorrow.  You can watch it live assuming you're into watching Dizzy Dizzy Hamster (brought to you by Trek, making a better image for itself since yesterday) for a sixty minutes.  You know how I feel about him already.

Seriously.  Anyone who can pull the Sergeant Schultz "I see nothing" bullshit after being so deep up in it?  I don't get it.  To make matters worse, there's this:

I would love to say I made that list up... I didn't.  I woulda added some Enya for sure.

Allow me to cleanse your palate.