Hey, Butter, Butter, Butter, Butter, Butter...

Suh-wing, Butter.

Gawdammit.

Dr Mike on a portion of old/new Butter Gap that warms my heart.

This is an almost review of the Vittoria Air-Liner Light that someone (one someone) asked for a week or two ago.

Sorta.

I'd had zero unfortunate flats with any tire liner I've ever ridden to include CushCore, Tubolight, and the Vittoria one up until a few weeks ago when I experienced a puncture on a sharp, pointy,  fuck-faced rock that woulda healed thyself had I checked my sealant before the race.  That would be zero rear flats since December 2020... until this past October.

Now make that two flats.

That's four pieces of bacon it still wasn't enough to seal the giant gash.  How giant?  I had to use my fingers to keep the bacon in place while I pulled the tool back out (multiple times) because they were never going to work anyways.

I'm so delighted that when they rerouted Butter, it meanders all over the place before finding the old trail for a hot moment at this spot.  

Türd negotiating the canted slabby-do rock armored creek crossing that to me "is" what Butter is and should be.

Anyhoo, before we got that far, I'd slammed into a HOOGE pointy rock in a most awful manner, the kind where the rim makes the "you fucked up" noise.  Just how pointy?

Finger pointy.

I was just gonna roll back to the car down Searcy Creek Road on my flat tire, but Türd offered to manhandle the tire off and lash the insert to his pack.  Yeth, I coulda done it myself, but I was not only physically deflated but morally as well.

Good Bryan doing good things on good new/old Butter.

I hate riding on a hard tail with a tube in the back, but it was better than a sad garvel ride back to the car, albeit slower and more deliberate than normal.

The flat tire did serve as a motivator to solve two problems.

I had mounted a 2.4 Rekon Race on the back of the Radimus when I thought Pisgah would be closed for, like, ever.  Then Pisgah opened up, and it didn't take long for me to realize that it is not the perfect choice for fall/winter Pisgah leaf/loam riding.  Now I have an excellent excuse to replace it with something more appropriate for the conditions.

Then there's this:

I think it's dead.  It has so many dings, tears, and holes that were evidence of a job well done.  That said, the Vittoria Air-Liner installation and removal is much easier.  It feels a little more stable in run-flat mode (now that I've had the chance to squeeze both after losing 90% of the air inside the tire).  It just seems... better.

Granted, the Birzman Tubeless Tire Levers are the best thing ever since the invention of tire inserts.  If you don't have them, you should obtain them immediately.  I get absolutely nothing for endorsing them, other than a smug Ohio Kenny saying "I told you so." 

So now, with a four day weekend coming up and a probable Pisgah day on the menu, there is not enough time for me to get a new Vittoria Air-Liner Light (from Watts *because he keeps them in stock and is the reason I currently own one) and a 2.4 Maxxis Minion DHR 3CG/EXO/TR on my bike for such an adventure.  This makes me sad, but not as sad as I was after the ride on Saturday.

Anyhoo...

After the ride, we stopped at Ecusta Brewing for a beer and a bite.  I didn't select our table, but I did decide where to sit... with my eyes staring directly into the setting sun.  After I picked up my loaded bowl, I ambled over to the sauce counter, my eyes still seeing spots and flares.  I couldn't read the labels, so I picked mine based on color. With no time to waste with taste-testing since someone was waiting for the little old man to make his selection, I proceeded to squirt the hot sauce all over my bowl with the exuberance of a six year old putting ketchup on French fries.  

I chose poorly.

I paid a certain price for my haste and ignorance.

So, with time to reflect on the whole day, it was not a total disaster.  I learned not one, not two, not three, but four lessons on the day that are actionable and very memorable.  I will change my tire and tire liner.  I will select a better line on Searcy Creek Connector through that one spring crossing.  I will take my time when selecting hot sauces to drown my food in to save myself some future agony.

So anyways, the Vittoria Air-Liner Light gets my Seal of Semi-Approval.

I still don't like that I can't easily check sealant levels with my Park Tool TB1 (Turkey Baster 1).  I'm not thrilled about the idea of carrying out a sealant drizzled liner if I need to put in a tube.  All that said, I can't imagine getting rowdy on a hard tail without a liner.  So many group ride disappoint flats and race day sadnesses that I'm willing to wear a liner outta the woods bandolier-style or at least hide it away in the woods for retrieval on another day (if that could actually work out).  I'll never go without one installed, despite cost, hassle, and weight.**  I've definitely heard my rear tire bottom out with the Vittoria Air-Liner Light installed too many times to count, but it doesn't show as much wear and tear as the Tubolito.  Dare I say it's a more durable pool noodle?

I dare.

Buy one.  Or if you're an idiot like me who owns two hard tails that are so similar that if you squint from twenty yards away, you can't tell which one is which... mebbe buy two.

There you have it.  A "product review" of something without even one image of the product... because it's a tire liner, and you're never supposed to see them anyways.

* Yeth, Watts has an online store now.  He's basically the next Speedgoat.

** except on my fully turgid single speed that keeps the rowdiness more in check (most of the time) and has a flat incident ratio of front to rear that's close to 1:3

Why stand on a silent platform?

Fight the war...

That's what went through my mind anyways.

At the age of fifty five (and a half), if and when I have a quiet moment, I find myself "reflecting."  Dealing with certain adult stuff lately that's been emotionally draining has me thinking about where I'm at, where I'm headed, and how I got here.  From time to time, I wonder if I shoulda pursued a "career" that uses my brain more.  I used to be smart, at least I think I was (despite how I come off here, there, wherever).  Grades, college entrance test scores, my initial path once I started my "higher learning"...

I probably coulda been good at something... had I known where to direct my pretty immature young twenty something year old energies.

I still think it's insane that we ask seventeen year old humans, "What do you want to do the rest of your life... keeping in mind that if you choose wrong you could end up in loads of debt and heading in the wrong direction?"

Life happens.  I re-meet The Pie in the latter months of my college life.  Our two paths became one, I graduate, so does she, and the next thing you know, I'm a bike messenger in Charlotte in 1996.

I'm leaving a lot of blanks to be filled in, but obviously that was never even close to anything like a "plan."

The job really suited me.  A constant barrage of new information that had to be sorted in my brain only to be immediately resorted every twenty minutes all while negotiating traffic and other humans in the process of being (in my way).  The combination of mental gymnastics and the physicality of the job gave me what I needed, and something that I could walk away from at 5:00PM with pretty much a clean mental slate. 

Now that I've been in my current job for seventeen years(?), I still do messenger work, but I spend way more time with "administrative" tasks.  I enjoy the problem solving aspects of my job, and I do get to work with some really great people, but...

I need mental stimulation and physical movement to keep my mind sharp and my body communicating with that same aforementioned mind.  Sometimes, I want to be everywhere all at once but other times have a singular, intense, all-encompassing focus on what's in front of me.

Thank dog, Western North Carolina trails are back on the menu.
  

Nothing feeds my brain like bombing down a leaf-covered Trace Ridge at Mach Chicken on a stupid hard tail.  I feel like I'm giving in to getting old if my need for speed is not respected in some manner, and since I'm not one to fly down the highway risking tickets and lives, this is about the only thing that fits the bill.  It had been almost two and a half months since I'd ridden in the Motherland, and I was a little concerned that mebbe it had been too long.

It had not.

And once again, I'm totally happy where I am in life at the moment.  

Bleth.

Onward and offwards

Thorry not thorry about the break.  Life got busy.  Work got busy.  I won't blame post-election feelings, although on drive to Florida for a vacation with The Pie last Thursday, I did have some strange unexplained chills and aches that went away some twenty hours hours later.  I'm sure it was just something I ate or touched or looked at in a side-eyed manner.

Speaking of the election (sorta), I deleted Twitter from my phone this past weekend.  I only joined a million years ago because it was considered a social media format that was desirable to bike cycle athlete sponsors.  I barely ever posted there initially, and soon after considered it pointless, but then eventually found it to be a reputable source for finding actual bona fide journalism.  Then a certain someone bought it, thus commencing some insane shittery to include loads of pronbots (making it almost impossible to look at while at work) which were then magically quieted to allow for an immense flow of disinformation (who knows why?).  Immediately after the election, everything was almost normal for a day or two... almost like someone didn't need this outlet anymore... and then the pronbots returned as well as a certain amount of dipshittery... so I decided I was out.  Whilst I will miss some of the actual real information I was able to glean from certain people I followed, I'll gain back the time I would spend looking for reliable sources vetting through all the turds I was voluntarily allowing to be dangled in front of my eyes.

Speaking of sponsors... 

This will be a lame but what I would call "necessary" update.  I've taken the time to whittle down my "Dick Supporters" list on the sidebar.  Some painful departures in there, some probably more business-related, non-emotional cuts.

Vertigo. 

While I still own the decade plus old frame and will probably keep it until I'm ded or in a nursing home room with limited storage space, Vertigo as a brand ceased to exist earlier this year.  Sean will no longer be assembling titanium pipes into rideable art.  Sigh.  That said, I've mostly been riding my new Optimus exclusively since I built it up, but the Vertigo Meatplow V.7 will still have purpose.  It's probably the last custom frame I'll ever have built, so I can't let it go.  We've had many adventures together, and there will be many more to come.

Topeak & GORE Wear

They kinda go hand-in-hand for me.  Both companies were brought into my world by Thorpe Marketing at the same time.  It was a most fortunate relationship, especially the GORE Wear part of it.  Being a "bike commuter/bike messenger/bike cycle sport athlete" since '96, I've enjoyed a lot of bad weather over the years.  If I can't say their gear has saved my ass, I can at least say it kept it a whole lot drier.  For their part, Topeak has supplied me with enough useful tools, stands, bike storage solutions and whatnot to probably keep me happy for the rest of my lifetime.  I hate to see the lights go out, and I'm not sure if the ambassador program just went away or in another direction (young people who use social media correctly?), but it was a good ride.  It's been more than a year since an unsexpected mystery package has showed up on my porch, so probably time for an official goodbye.  

Last but certainly not least...

Backcountry Research

Honestly, it's been since early Covid days when I last had contact with my main man there, Richard.  Magically, I was the first customer way back in 2009.  It ended up being a very mutually beneficial relationship, especially after I came up with the idea for the Tülbag.  I handstitched the prototype, and BR improved on it one thousand fold in terms of materials, design, and construction.

I still use it to hold my money on Sad Dad™ rides around town tho.  Love dem member berries.

I can't foresee a day when every single one of my bikes doesn't have flat-fixing gear strapped under the saddle (aside from the ones that get locked up where there's a potential for anything that isn't bolted on to be stolen).  I still consider the Super 8 top tube strap to be the most ingenious yet elegantly simple bike thing in the world.  I'll love BR with all my heart till I die, but...

Cleansing the "Dick Support" serves two purposes.  I don't want to be coming off as something I'm not, and it seems disingenuous to leave them up there any longer.  Like in a "look at me, Mr Big Time Sponsored Bike Cycle Athlete!" when in reality, I'm an old dude who still blogs (jeebus, for almost twenty years), and these people still are down with my current activities.  The other reason is to give full credit where credit is due.  Those that are left up there have been long time super duper Dick Supporters, and I have a personal relationship with one or more people in each company.  Bleth.

I've made a commitment to myself to at least keep this blerhg alive'ish through the end of 2025.  That would make it twenty whole years (the first three years are lost to the wind when blogger.com ceased to exist).  It's a silly goal, but at least it is a goal... so there's that.  I'm guessing that once I let this go, so will go some (all?) of the support... or not.  Perhaps I'll do what most bloggers from days of yore have done and swap to a more relevant short form version of communicating on social media things.  Dunno.  Mebbe.  I've never been one to be brief.

We'll see.

Optimustic Attitude

It's been almost two months since I got my new Optimus Ti frame all built up and rolling.  I've got way more than three hundred miles on it now, so allow me to throw out my ten cents (you know the two cents is free).

Funny not funny, I did a podcast interview months ago that may or may not ever see the light of day.  Perhaps it will kill this particular pod for good, just like when I did a never released interview with Fat Cyclist right before he pulled the plug in 2016.  Who knows?

Anyhoo, during the interview, at some point we talked about bikes, specifically (I think) any bike I was excited about.  I described my ultimate endurance XC single speed that I would never end up building because what would be the point of it?  I already had my bases covered with my Vertigo and Radimus, but if I could have something...

It would be a 120mm front travel, modern geometry, titanium single speed.  For "racing."  Because I'm an "athlete" who needs "performance."  I just couldn't justify the expense or another bike in the house.  

Then I got bored (very bored) with my Epic EVO, hadn't ridden it with gears since November, and only rode it as a single speed eighty or so miles in early 2024.

Combine the fact that the Epic EVO was just devaluing as time went by, both Fox and Industry Nine had released some new components that piqued my interest, and the whole project wouldn't cost me all that much once I sold some shit, and... potential energy met catalyst.

I asked for this.  Dunno why.  Mebbe to help me keep track of which ti single speed I was grabbing off the wall.

Kilos because I can't get it to swap back to pounds, but converts to a little over 4.5lbs with a drooper housing, seat collar, and all the slider hardware installed.

The first ride back in September, leaning against Bob Ross Rock.

The handling felt pretty natural, as the geometry is pretty close to the Radimus, aside from the 20mm shorter travel fork.

Not stock hardware, but the kinda stuff I pay attention to for no real good reason at all.

Reverse panel this time because I needed my third Vassago frame to be "different."

This is the first iteration of spacer arrangement I went with.  I'm now on my f̶o̶u̶r̶t̶h̶ f̶i̶f̶t̶h̶ s̶i̶x̶t̶h̶ seventh installment (sorry, I've been working on this post for three weeks) of shifting them from top to bottom trying to find the absolute sweet spot before chopping my steer pipe with a blunt hatchet.

I'm kinda stoked Tom went back to the old head badge design.  It's classic, what can I say?

How do I like it?

I'm smitten.  I knew I would like it because a wise cleric told me that it would fill a void in my soul.  Even before Western North Carolina closed, I knew I'd be choosing this bike over the others for 90% of my riding for awhile.  Closer to the handling of my Radimus while being closer to the weight of the Vertigo.  It's predictable.  It's fast.  It feels... natural.

And it feels totally different from the other two single speeds that look almost exactly like it. 

For those that are keeping score, that is three titanium single speeds owned by the same guy who drives a fourteen year old car.  You have your priorities, and I have mine.

And for those that sweat these things, the build is thus:

Frame: Vassago Optimus Ti

Fork: Fox Step Cast with Grip SL
Wheels: 24 spoke Industry Nine SOLiX m UL300

Tires: Maxxis OG Forekaster 2.6/Aspen 2.4 with Vitoria Air-Liner Light XC insert (rear)
Brakes: Shimano XTR M9120 brakes w/TruckerCo organic semi-metallic pads
Handlebars: Santa Cruz carbon 780mm

Stem: Industry Nine

Grips: ESI Racers Edge

Bottom bracket: Cane Creek Hellbender 70

Headset: Cane Creek 40

Dropper post: Fox Factory Transfer 180mm

Saddle: Ergon SMR3
Pedals: Shimano XTR

Cranks: Race Face NEXT R

Bottle cages; King titanium

Chain: KMC X9SL
Cog: Wolf Tooth

Seat post clamp: Wolf Tooth
Bar end plugs: Wolf Tooth

You gotta hand up to hand down

HandUp Gloves (now HandUp Gloves, Apparel, and Beyond) just celebrated its tenth anniversary at the end of last week.  They sent me a wonderful gift that choked me up a bit.

The handwritten card kinda hit hard, being that few people put pen to paper anymore.  They're too far away from me to hug.  

*sigh*  

The gloves are one of those things that I wanna mount in a frame (the gold H is kinda dope in an '80s way), but knowing that things are meant to be used, I'll wear them instead.

It's been so long, I had to do a deep dive into when our love fest began.

This is the first picture I could find from January 20(fucking)15.  I bought my first pair when I was getting super disappointed in all the current options of zero padding, full fingered gloves.  I think HandUp had a few options as far as colorways go, but obvs I went for yellow.

I have close to zero recollection how this purchase ended up in a relationship.  I don't remember the exact moment when I met Cody... or Jamie... or Troy.  I can remember (thanks to the fact that I wrote about it) driving to Tennessee the week after a tree fell on my house to do the Lula Lake Land Trust 50 in 2016 and staying up well past my bed time the night after the race making lots of great and not so great decisions while acorns rained down on our heads.  I don't remember when they started doing apparel, but my wardrobe slowly started to change... I mean "evolve."  Other things moved to the back of the closet or the bottoms of drawers.  Sorry, slim-fit Dickies.

Anyhoo, it's been (almost) ten fucking years for me.  I'd say I can't believe it, but when I take a shit and see the upside down tag in my jorts that says "since 2014" as I lay into the throttle of my bidet, I member.  Whilst one takes a shit, time flies.

I rarely leave the house not wearing something from HandUp.  My favorite gloves, shorts, jorts, socks... okay, they don't make tiny hats... yet.  I'll stay on them.

When I got the notice that they were sending something special to me through the USPS, I was reminded that some time ago, they had sent me some prototype AT+ shorts that would see to a phasing out of the OG AT and previous generation AT+ shorts.  I've been smitten with my one pair and straddling an awkward fence.  They had become favorite shorts, so I wanted to wear them all the time, but I also wanted to only wear them for special occasions.

So, yeah.  I needed to pick up a few pairs to keep them in a more constant rotation.    

And while I was bugging them anyways...

Almost a month ago, they launched the Trail Rambler shorts to the world.  For what it's worth, I had close to zero interest in them.  I've never been 100% happy with any MTB specific baggies.  I always had any one or two of the following issues:

* Too baggy.  My skinny meat sticks flop around inside the short pant legs like bell clappers.

* Too many features.

* Too long, even for my 31" inseam legs in a size that fit me tiny old man waist.

* Too heavy/warm.

* Too Enduro™.

* Too loose no matter what, and without belt loops, they end up falling down and snagging on even a fully drooped saddle.

The closest thing I had were some lighter GORE Wear shorts that were so close to perfect... except for the fact that they suffered from the last problem, but they were as good as it was gonna get.  I just took extra care when I was drooping not to get caught behind the saddle.

I didn't wanna get the Trail Ramblers and set myself up for yet another disappoint, but since I was getting some stuff, why not try them? 

So, I did.

I honestly have no complaints.  The length is where I want them to be (hides my base layer cargo chamois, doesn't bang around at my knee), the fit is on point, they are well-ventilated, and the adjustable waist makes sense (comfy wide, stays put, and can be undone with gloved fingers for convenient wiener access).  You can click the link if you want more deets or to see some closeup shots that don't have a semi-fit septuagenarian in them.

Hats off to HandUp (not tiny hats off tho obvs).  It's been a great ten years!  I'd lets do ten more, but at my age, I feel like I should be going in five year increments between celebratory moments. 

Still racing?

If you just wanna read about my new Vassago Optimus Ti and associated feelings, feedback, and niggles, I'm getting there.  Soon.  I promise.

I entered the first race of a new local series late on Friday evening, about thirteen hours before the actual start time.  Somewhat outta the desire to do something, but also to bolster the roster numbers a bit.  I can say I support local racing, or I can actually support local racing.

Some time ago, Eric "PMBAR Honcho" Wever gave me his perspective on other promoters in the Pisgah area.  I'm paraphrasing a bit (a lot but whatever), but he said if you wanna be a music town, you can't just have one giant, "ok" venue.  You need all kinds of terrific places with a variety of music to create a "scene."  So, if you want a region to be considered a mecca for mountain bike racing, you need more than just one mega-promoter putting on events, and it's in your best interest that the other promoters do well and help shine a positive light on the "scene" as a whole.

There were only three single speeders signed up, Jason, Shawn, and myself.  Jason and I took a warmup loop together to check out the "new" course, 1/3 gravel and pavement, 1/3 all-weather swoops and berms from the OG short track course, and 1/3 old school single track with all the roots, rocks, worn out jumps and ditches of a twenty plus year old trail system.

"Plenty of places to get a flat," Jason cheers out.

Hmmpph.  I'm 135 pounds soaking wet on 2.6/2.4 tires with a pool noodle out back and a squishy orange thing up front.  I ain't flatting.

Line up, "go," and the other two let me go into the woods first.  Jason stays on my six through the end of the first lap, and I try to let him go by me in the parking lot by swinging wide on the ninety degree turn.  He wasn't having it.  Dammit.  I went outside on a technical turn on the trail (where he'd already told me he goes inside), he comes around, hits the A-line climb while I take the B-line, he cleans it, and opens a huge gap.  Meh.

Despite my best efforts, the gap from me to Jason slowly grows with every lap.  I start feeling like I'm getting sloppy in the technical bits, and even come gracefully unclipped from my left pedal seconds before the rock drop.  I'm falling apart in less than thirty minutes of effort.

Jason wins (crushes), I get second, and Shawn fills out the podium.  As we stand around chatting right at the finish, I realize I'm sitting on a bike with a rear tire that is getting very flat.

I was surprised to be losing air with a pool noodle insert... but the last time I put sealant in my tires?  Did I refresh everything up before I went to Vermont or do I need to flash back four months ago to when I mounted the tires up long before getting the frame?  I was semi-relieved and semi-bummed with the small puncture I found.  I was going to ride out the winter on the well-worn but not worn-out Aspen 2.4 what with WNC closed and Charlotte's 24 hour rain rule in effect.  I was only going to be riding in dry conditions for the foreseeable future.  Now I had a reason to put on a fresh Aspen from my backups, but I'm saddened by the fact that I placed (what I thought was) my last order with Maxxis before reapplying for '25 sponsorship... that last order ironically being for a 2.6 DHF for my "Pisgah single speed."  Overcome by a feeling of frugality, I decided to plug the tire... but the hole was too small which means sealant shoulda taken care of it...

So put in a half dose of TruckerCo sealant and the hole sealed up instantly... meaning I'd ignored it too long.  That's the one thing I don't like about pool noodles in my tires.  I can't use my Park Tool turkey baster to easily check the sealant level.  I've considered running a hot poker through the noodle and hoping I can line it all up for full insertion of the baster, but obvs I've not done that.  Any better ideas?  Lemme know.

I'm really getting along marvelously with this new bike.  I'm still moving contact points around, but it's finding its home between my legs.

Am I done "racing" for '24, or am I gonna do the other two races in the series?  Dunno.

There's always this floating out there coming in December and scaring the beejeebus outta me:

6/12/24 hours of some super awesome trails at a time when nothing else in Pisgah will be open for who knows how long.  The deets, in a nut shell...

"The goal of this event is to raise awareness and funding for the Old Fort Strong Fund, which aims to put money directly into the hands of Old Fort residents and businesses as they rebuild their homes and repair their businesses affected by Hurricane Helene. Over 50 homes in Old Fort were either damaged or completely destroyed. Our goal is to raise a minimum of 2 million in donations for this fund to help provide relief, rebuild homes, and support local businesses that have suffered in Old Fort."

King and Queen of the Watershed '24

I belly up to the bar at Revolution Cycles at 4:30PM on Saturday.  The first thing I see is a customer picking up his 20" folding bike.  He's wearing what looks like cafeteria worker plastic gloves.  Not one minute passes and a woman walks in the door with an old pink beach cruiser saying she spoke with someone about storing her bike for a few months.  She's also wearing cafeteria worker plastic gloves.

After some confusing conversation about who spoke to who and what "storing a bike "indefinitely meant, I got to ask Watts what the gloves were about. 

"I dunno.  I've never seen it before and now... ?"

From there, the shop closed and a weight weenie discussion started over GRX VS XT pedals.

Same but different... but same.

I'm gonna backpedal a bit here.  Watts had asked me if I wanted to do K&Q on suspension forks this year or stick with rigid as per the ush.

Rigid Pros:
It's how we do it because... burrito.

Squish Pros:
Watts already had a suspension fork on his bike from our trip last week.
I'm really enjoying my new behk, and it's looking like this might be my last chance to race it until... ?
Suspension is comfortable.
I wanted to find out if I got all the creaks outta my bike.

So, suspension it is.

Out for pre-race carbo and also rita loading for the King and Queen of the Watershed.

We did not go that hard in the paint.  Wisdom?  Age?  Maturity?  Tired?  Bellies full of free tortilla chips and possibly a few vurps on both our parts? 

Dunno.

As we do, we ride the thirteen something miles to the start of the first timed stage from Watt's house (after a mandatory stop at Revolution Cycles to pick up the things and also the stuff) instead of taking the complimentary shuttle.  I ask Watts to start in front of me, because history has shown he is faster... even tho he said he wasn't feeling fit... but he always says that.  It's super slick, and I'm regretting my choice of a well-worn (but not worn-out) Aspen, as I dodge trees and try to keep my collar bones intact.  I do end up catching him before the finish, so there's that.  I start Stage Two in front of him, but then my neck hurt from looking over my shoulder every few minutes... so I start Stage Three after him... and caught him again.

On the way to Stage Four is usually where the wheels come off my bus.  Less about the enjoyment of a frosty beverage someone mighta left in the woods for us, but more about me seeing pizza at the aid station, eating pizza, eating even more pizza, and a couple hot peppers... just a half mile from the second longest and very lumpy Shady Side/Owl's Roost course.  In all my infinite wisdom, I eschew my favorite tasty woods treat, deciding it would be better to have blood in my legs and not rushing to my digestive system to process something food-like in appearance and taste.

Whaddaya know?  It works.   I don't end up feeling like total ass for thirty minutes. 

Note to self: pizza during full gas efforts = no buneos.

Stage Five is relatively short and punchy (like me).  It works out in my favor since I suck at the "power thing" and also the "handling component," but I can go down things and up things.

In the end...
 

After almost two hours of racing, how does it feel to finish one minute thirty nine seconds behind a thirty eight year old on a full squish single speed with muscles that are worth flexing and most of a functional hat?

Dammit.  Slightly bitter.  At myself mostly.  Seeing that I was third on the first three stages, second on the fourth (by .7 seconds), and then the fastest on the last stage?  Makes me think I didn't try hard enough... or I can use the age old excuse that we elderly people toss about... " I don't even warm up for the first (insert insane amount miles)."

We did a thing, and then we did other things.

We once again managed to shut it all down...

And once again, we ended up riding home in the dark.

I love, love, love this event.  So much fun and a little bit of sadness as this might the last of the 2024 "season" for me.  At least if it is, it ended on a very high note (winning the last stage counts as a win in my book).