Helen Octoberfest Trip

Went to Helen GA for Oktoberfest/Biking weekend. We drove up Friday and settled in by trying a few of the German brews. We went out and had a few drinks before retiring back to bed (I think we were home by 10, such party people!).

The next morning we headed up to the Unocoi Lodge to eat breakfast. It was a breakfast buffet, so we all got our fill. I even resisted the urge to eat a biscuit, however I could not say no to the french toast. We got back to the townhouse and got ready to ride.
We had scoped out the trail head from town so we would not have to ride around and on the road this time. We took the Helen-Unocoi trail and got on the Unocoi Mountain bike trail. We rode this around and eventually got over to the field (the real start of the trail). We played in that area a bit as there was a small drop by one of the bridges that we jumped off of a few times. We rode around the bridges and tried to ride the railroad ties before heading back onto the trail. Finishing up there were some nice downhills and some short, but steep climbs. It was a decent short course. We headed back into town and stopped at Big Daddy's bar and sat out on the porch and had some Hopdevil while the sun started to set. There was a woman a few tables over with the most tattoos I have ever seen. She was wearing a tank top and had angel wings on her shoulders and a HUGE tramp stamp. She was there with her baby (at a bar!) so yes... Anyway, it started getting cold when we were in the shade so we headed back to the townhouse to go out for the evening. I sat in the hot tub for a few minutes and it felt great as it was a bit chilly outside. I was a bit tired so we decided to rest and go to the fest hall at about 9. I fell asleep and woke up about time to go. Moran decided to skip this time so he dropped us off and we went inside. This was definitely the place to be as it was packed. We got a couple of pitchers of Erdinger Octoberfest and enjoyed the music/dancing/people watching. Tommy actually got on stage and did the chicken dance with everyone. The fest hall closed and Tommy decided we needed to go to Huddle House. Of course this was the most packed place in town and we finally got to eat. While we we eating I got up to go to the restroom and I missed a fight right by our table. They said that the Huddle house ladies broke it up and threw the guys outside (don't mess with the hh ladies!). We walked home and went to bed.

The next day we tried to eat at Hoffers, but they made us wait 45 minutes for a table (when there were a couple of empty tables) and then said it was too late to order breakfast. I was a bit mad, but Grumpy Grund was not going to make an appearance this weekend so I just ordered lunch. Tommy was not feeling well and Murf was a little sore, so me and Moran decided to ride the Unocoi again as we couldn't really find anything else close. We rode a quick lap and called Tommy and Murf and they were riding around town. We met them and rode around some of the back streets and explored a little before heading back. We went back out, ate dinner (Tommy actually tried some German food and liked it!) and then looked for a place to hang out for a while. Pretty much every place in town was smoky and after last night at the fest hall I had all the cigarette smoke I could handle so we just went back to the townhouse and hung out.

The next morning we got up and packed to go home. Murf was trying to make it back to work a half day and I think Tommy was missing his Baby so me and Moran tried to find somewhere nice to eat. We ended up not waiting as all the local places we looked were covered up and hit the road. On the way, Tommy called and told us there was a place in Gainsville. As a last minute decision we looked it up on Moran's phone and somehow with the phone and 2 GPSs made it there. It was called Chicopee and we changed and got ready to ride.
We were looking at a map and started talking to one of the locals (Randy) and he offered to let us tag along. He was a pretty good rider and helped us tie the trails together to ride most of them. These trails were AWESOME! The place was a SORBA/IMBA trail and all the trails were just a lot of fun. I am definitely going to make it back there again. We headed on home afterwards and it was definitely a great weekend.

I will try to update the pictures as soon as I get them uploaded.

My First Century

I decided to ride in the BBC Century just to see if I could do it. I had a couple of 90 mile weeks when I was biking to and from work as well as mountain biking on the weekends but had never hit the magic 100mile number. Last weekend I had met at Cahaba desiring to get in a 50 mile ride to see how I felt. I got there at 7 and only 1 other person showed up he only showed up last minute and I was going to be a little upset if I had gotten up early and no one else showed up. He was sick and not feeling well so we just did a slow 20 mile loop through oak mountain. We got back and I was told the ride time had moved to 9:00 so I hung around and figured I would hang with the beginner group and do another 30 or so. Unfortunately there was only about 7 people riding so it was decided that there would be one group. There was talk of a 50 mile ride and some of these guys looked pretty serious. I asked what the pace would be and I was assured no one would be dropped. They said they were riding to Vandover and I had no idea where that was so we headed out. I was feeling pretty good after my warmup and managed to stay with them while they had their "slow" pace. Vandover ended up being about 29 miles away and I got dropped a bit before we got there. Brian? (hope that is correct) from Cahaba, hung with me and the other rider till we got there. After a short rest we headed back and I was not ready to hang with them this time, so us slower ones and Brian (decided to keep us company) rode back. It was a good ride and I had ridden over 77 miles. I actually fely pretty good so I was determined to do the century the following weekend.

I had to get up early to be in Springville by 7, but registered to do the "easy" (bypassed a few of the bigger climbs) century. I ran into Lee and Joe C. and they said they were doing the mountain goat century and I should join them. I was not keen on this Idea at first, as I still don't really know what a steep hill is on a road bike but they assured me they were going to ride at a casual pace so I joined them. It started off really nice as it was pretty flat and we had a nice pace going, until the first big hill (walker's gap). I started off good, but as the hill kept going I started falling behind. As I was pushed closer and closer to my limits, my only goal was not to put a foot down. Lee and Joe pulled away, but I kept chugging along mostly having to stand during all the steeper sections. As I crested the top I managed to push it a bit and catch back up to them (It helped that they were waiting on me). This climb had a nice long descent down the other side and I played a bit drafting Lee and letting the wind slow me back down. I have only gone this fast on the Mtn Bike once (40mph) and I felt really uncomfortable then. The road bike however was much more stable feeling and I quickly felt comfortable going so fast.
Almost immediately we started the second climb (horse pens 40). As once again I began to struggle I had plenty of time to contemplate a few things such as: Why do I have to stand up? Why is he peddling so much faster than me? WTF, his front chainring has a much smaller gear than mine does! Why did I not research this? I will not put a foot down!.. Wait a minute, wasn't there supposed to be a rest stop between these hills..... We took a wrong turn! Is it getting steeper? I WILL NOT put a foot down! Is that the top? Thank the lord! What is wrong with my vision? After I recovered I caught up with them (as they peddled slowly waiting on me). And mentioned we missed the rest stop. This second hill had a better descent (it had a few slight turns and was not just one long downhill, but had sections. We continued on and finally after more than 50 miles we reached the rest stop. I still had a bit if drink left which I knew was bad. I was not drinking enough water so I knew I would have to start drinking more or I was going to have problems later. I think I was pushing a bit too hard through some sections and forgot to hydrate. The next section was pretty flat and we had a nice ride to the covered Bridge rest stop. A really nice lady there gave me a ziplock bag for my camera as I was starting to get it sweaty. The weather was just incredible. it was cool and overcast which kept the sun off us and I am sure helped my ride. I filled up my bottles and ate a snack and we once again set off. This part had the climb everyone had to do, but it was in sections of a bit of climb and then flat and then climb again. I handlesd this much better as I could power my way up the short hills and then recover on the flats for the next one. I must have gotten my second wind around here because I was really feeling great on this section.
At the very top was the last rest stop. It was at a small church and I decide to eat something. I am not usually a big fan of tomatoes (i will eat them but don't usually ask for them on my food) I ate a tomato sandwhich (tomatoes, salt, and bread) and it was perfect, just what I needed. I think we hung out here a bit too long as I was a bit slow feeling when getting back on the bike (or it could be that I had ridden about 90 miles). We were told it was mostly downhill to the end and I seem to remember that not really feeling true. I finally started to cramp a bit with about 5 miles to go. As long as I kept spinning I could keep them at bay. After a bit they started to pass. I got back to the end and my computer only said 98.5. Since we missed a bit on the rest stop I decided to get my 100 in so I continued up the road and went to the intersection of the first turn of the route. I figured this would be far enough and turned around. Somehow the small hill at the beginning had turned into a mountain. I rode back up it starting to feel the cramps again, but managed to make it to the top. Finally heading back in, I had right under 101 miles on the odometer. I was pleased and grabbed a beer to celebrate. There was a bluegrass band and I sat and listened to them while eating a Chick-Fil-A sandwhich or two.

I had a great time and am glad they talked me into the harder route. I don't think I would have been as chalanged on the easier one. I headed home with a smile on my face (probably from deleria) and knew I would sleep well.

BBC Century

For now: Could those calories be correct???? All data (Age, Sex, Weight, Max HR) is correct.

I think I may have lost 1mm of backfat!