Last Chance

I'm finishing the packing arrangements for Seven Springs. I'm doin it. I don't know why. This one is the deal breaker. If I don't finish this one, I'm done with them. For a while. It's too much time and money and preparation and focus and effort to do half a race.

The weather is looking more promising every hour. Yesterday rained all day but its stopped for now. Chances for storms the rest of the weekend are getting lower and lower. I hope I have enough brake pads.

First thing next week is a reveiw of last weekends Tour de Brew, which was awesome.

Less is more

This really caught my eye the other day. A video clip of Sam Hill in this years DH Worlds. If you've not seen it, now is a good time.

Unbeliveable. Second place by only half a second after a run where, at one point he was laying on the ground several feet from his bike. Totally flying.
I've come to realize over the years that there is no correlation between the amount of stuff I have at school and the amount of it that I use. The more I have, the more that sits un-used. This year the challenge continues. How little can I get by with.
School starts on Monday. The Experience and I move in on Thursday. Good times to follow.

118B

Sometimes, not extremely often but once in a while, I start to miss something I wish I still had, or perhaps, something I wish I was still a part of. 118B is the Blacksburg exit off of I-81 in southern Virginia and for whatever reason, I never feel more at home than the moment I see that big green sign with 'Virginia Tech This Exit' written on it. Something about Blacksburg just feels right to me. I can honestly tell anyone that have no regrets in my lifetime. Except one. I spent two years in Blacksburg and leaving that town was a mistake. One that I wish I could take back. The people that I met there were some of the best. So was the riding. Blacksburg is home to thousands of people but somehow it always felt like it was my own secret place. In a way I guess it kinda was. I did a lot of exploring on my own and I found a lot of cool things. I was really proud of the place.

Its been almost two years since I've lived in Blacksburg and the reason for coming back north still escapes me. In retrospect it was a rash decision coupled with a short time when I was down about a lot of things. I guess I didn't know what I had until I gave it up. I still talk to my freshman year roommate, Bryan, although not as often as I should and I still get the cycling team emails everyday about who needs to borrow a fixed gear hub or who forgot their arm warmers after the Race Ride which still kinda makes me feel like I'm still in the loop. But I know I'm not really, not totally.

I would love to go back someday but I think that all the people I've come to know will have left. I don't think it would be the same. I just wish I could rewind back to those days. A bit depressing I suppose but I couldn't sleep until I wrote about it. I will say, however, living with this guy for a year should be awesome.

More cool people

Looks like another member of the cool kids club. About as cool as seventh graders slow dancing to Savage Garden.

Shoulda just done some smack and he'd a been a free man. Be eatin cereal right now.

Universal Solvent

In the field of chemistry, water is referred to the 'Universal Solvent'. It's unique chemical composition of both an H+ cation and an OH- anion allow it to dissolve both acidic and basic compounds into solution.

Time has the same profound effect on a human being's mind. More specifically, the amount of time continuously riding a bicycle. Time is capable of dissolving any aspiration. It makes no difference your motivation, your confidence, your optimism, or your fitness. Time will break it all down. Time doesn't care. Time is relentless.

The changes within are staggering. Within hours, every ounce of effort in getting there is reduced to nothing. The 40+ hours of round trip driving, the dollars spent, the time investment of the support crew, the time investment of your own in training, the good luck wishes of hundreds of people are meaningless at that moment. You just don't care anymore.

24 Nats weren't the best. The course was so much fun. Sections reminded me exactly of Valley Forge. Stomach problems started early and didn't get any better. Ran 6th and 7th pretty consistently until a bit past the halfway point but couldn't put anything down without it feeling like it would come right back up. Even water. With nutrition steadily heading downhill I pulled the plug around midnight. Later that night, I ended up throwing up on the side of highway on the way back from getting some food. I was suprised to hear in the morning that Brandon had also abandoned a few hours later. PA bitchslap.

A big thanks to Matt, Jenny, my mom, and Renae and Joe D for all the help this weekend.

Countdown to Seven Springs- 24 days