Busty time ahead . . .

It's raining today so I don't get to ride. I haven't ever gotten used to riding the trainer.

This week and next are seriously busy. I have the Hot100 in Wilmington at the end of the month. The DEC Fall Century the next day(1 Sept) that I have to prepare for. Then the following week(Sept 7) is the DEC Individual and Team Time Trial. Not much prep for it, but I still have things to do and I'll be riding either the individual or team, if we can get one together.

Things are going to be busy. Stay tuned for more.


Ride On!
-Super Dave

Tour de Gaps

WHAT A GREAT RIDE!!!

The day turned out to be one of the best for riding that I have seen in forever. It was in the high 70s to low 80s with overcast skies in the morning and sunny in the afternoon.

11 riders from the J-ville area went up to Mt Airy to do the ride. Me, Rowdy, Ty, Dani and Greg did the 50 mile route(5200+ feet of climbs), Steve and Frank did the entire 82 mile route(11000+ feet of climbs) and Larry, Michael, Geoff and Alison did a couple of climbs but not all four. Kim went up with us but she was there just provide support for everyone from the club that was riding. Most of the group stayed at the same hotel the night before, we went out to dinner together and then mate for breakfast. I had a couple of stacks of hotcakes, knowing that they wouoldweigh me down and would give me quite a bit of fuel. The ride started out pretty good. I stayed about 1/4 way back from the lead riders, but close enough to see them until the first hard climb. At that point I just settled into a steady pace and kept climbing. I was feeling great and with the weather, I thought about trying the long route, but decided that I would stick with the short route and see how quickly I could ride. By the first checkpoint, Kim had driven ahead of us and let me know that Rowdy was a solid 5 minutes up on me. I doubted that I could catch up to him since there was no one between the lead 5 riders and me. I turned my MP3 player and started riding at a solid pace, just wanting to get to the finish. Nothing much to say about the rest of the ride. I just kept pushing myself up and down the hills to the finish. I didn't catch Rowdy, but did break the 3 hour mark and that was good for me. After the ride, Rowdy and I hung out around the area, ate and watched most of our friends finish. I talked with the ride coordinator, Carol, afterwards about this years and last years rides and the difference in them. I let her know that even though I will have moved prior to TdGs 09 I would try and make it back and ride the 82 mile course. All the DEC riders had a good time, some realized that this was a very difficult ride, but they all finished. Kim returned with some great pictures from the ride and most of us have made plans to return next year.

'Til next time.
Ride On!
-Super Dave

50 mile route
Pl Name Time
4 Rowdy Spuesens 2:45:38
6 David Guillory 2:56:09
15 Tyron Steele 3:52:09
16 Gregory Droba 3:56:59
21 Danielle Anton 4:55:50

82 mile route
Pl Name Time
36 Steven Walker 6:03:26
37 Frank Manfre 6:03:27

Variation
Pl Name Time
5 Lawrence Morton 4:21:17
8 Alison Siepker 4:41:20
9 Geoffrey Siepker 4:41:22
15 Michael Clay 5:02:03