Friday, April 17, 2009

24 Hours of Bliss

It's been seven days of restraint from "activities" and the waiting period is OVER!

I'm proud to say that I resumed all activities, both social and physical. Man, that was easier than I thought. The bike ride at 7:30am this morning wasn't bad at all either!!!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Time off the bike! Native Trout Beware!

I've announced it to anyone who would listen in the days leading up to and after that I was getting neutered. I had a vasectomy Friday April 10th, a very meaningful day in history, Good Friday, the day Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice.

April 10th was also my dog's 10th birthday (who's neutered too) and to celebrate, he's molting. Lucky for me, the procedure still leaves me with twig and berries intact. They took his juevos, but left mine intact.

Anyway, since I'm not able to copulate for 7 days or do strenuous things like riding, it's off to Fontana and the Great Smoky Mountains with my dad and a big group from church. Dad and I are branching off and hitting the cool, shaded streams of Hazel Creek, deep inside the forest where no cars may go. It's particularly sentimental because my grandmother was borned and spent her childhood at the mouth of this blessed river!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazel_Creek_%28Great_Smoky_Mountains%29

Unfortunately, thanks to the war effort, the TVA booted my family from their birth right and built the lake. But that is another story. Look up the mountain town of Proctor sometime to learn what a real hard life was like! Here's one man's account of his "MAMAW", just like mine:
http://www.westernncattractions.com/hazelcr.htm

The fishing is second to none because these fish are wild, not stocked...and not stupid. I could care less about the fish. I just want to go back to my roots.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Good times at the Clemson DH race


Well, the old man has lost a step but on a tiny course like this it seems almost insignificant. Herndon with a time just under 1:25 with a cluster of buddies seperated by 10ths of seconds on a manual stopwatch between 1:30 and 1:34. With the hesitation of a thumb, you could be 5th or 15th. Fun, fun time!



The course was just a luge run for a bicycle with tons of high speed, packed berms with some being over waist high! It's put on by a group of college students at the university with such a passion for speed and fun. Once oyu got into the turns, you didn't want to stop or touch the brakes for right, left, right, left action like no other.

There were several photographers who snapped fantastic pictures that give great perspective. Check 'em out:

Brado's Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/brado1/sets/72157616309567619/
Zach Suggs Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/zsuggs/sets/72157616436467596/

Friday, April 3, 2009

Picking up my helmet tonight

Just in time for Clemson. Got sent a teaser pic of it with just base coat, no clear yet. Looking clean and simple, just like I like it!!!




paint courtesy of Shayne Jordan! More pics to come tonight with my cheapo camera!!

Thursday, April 2, 2009

A ride in the morning muck...and wild horses attack!!

It was nice and warm thsi morning and I was jonesing to ride, so I hit a trail nearby and as I climbed a section of pavement, 4 horses came FLYING out of the woods at full sprint up onto the road 10 feet in front of me in the pouring rain. A red truck locked up brakes and nearly mangled one.

After several minutes of pretending to be a cowboy, I had the gate of the field they had stopped at the edge of open, but they wanted no part of it. I don't know if they were at the right pasture, but I knew the road was death. They ran from me up a hill and I started to close the gate.

Next thing I know, all 4 come bearing back down the hill at me and I whip the gate back open and wave them toward it (have no idea what I'm doing). They dash away from me toward the open gate....and there sits my bike!!!! SNOT! They all hurdle it like it's nothing and the day is saved and on with my ride. Yayyy!

Top that!!!