Keith and I last year at the 18 Hours On the Farm
Posted by Hello

WOW! I Can Finally Write Something.

I have been pretty busy the past couple of days. Thursday I had a nice ride with Matty T. We did a couple of hours at Fair Hill. The nice part was we did a mellow pace. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't easy , just a little laid back. I thought it was much needed. I have been riding and racing pretty hard for the past couple of months. We all need to chill once in a while. Matt did a good job of leading and mixing things up a bit. We had a good ride and then sat and had a couple of beers with Kurtee, Todd, and Mike K afterwards.

Tonight was a sending off party for my good friend Keith(bobby's boy). Keith has to relocate because of a job. In the past couple of years I have really gotten to know Keith, and I have to tell you there isn't a better person out there. He always has the right attitude, and seems to always be happy. Even when life dealt him a bad hand, he found strength and found his way through it. He is not moving to the other side of the world, but he won't be out for the weekly rides anymore. I find this sad because I can honestly say I have never had a bad ride when Keith was there. I will still get to race with him, but it is the group rides when we are joking and having a laugh or two that I will miss most.

Tonight was a good time. L. Webb and Brian did a great job hosting the event. All the important people came out to see Keith off. L. Webb had her computer set up with a cool slide show of local races. Most of the pics. were taken by her boy Jeb Bagger(nice job dude). It is always good to get the team together, it is the best group of people.

Well I am just rambling on, it is late and I am tired.

Thanks for reading.
Buddy

Reflection and Recovery

It has been a couple of days since Neshaminy and I have had time to think about it. There were a lot of positive things to take from the race; 1st I get to race with an awesome group of guys every week, we have blast and everybody has a kind word when we are done, 2nd The course was a lot of fun, dry and fast, I had a tough day but it was fun, 3rd as we were getting near the end of our last lap a guy in our class was coming on strong and Matt and I were able to hold him off even though we were both spent. So After all that I am happy with where I am right now. I also Had a talk with my coach and he reminded me, this is my first year as an expert and it is a tough change. Longer races and faster competition. I do like the challenge and I look forward to next year when I have more experience.

Now for todays ride. I avoided the TNT ride so I could take it easy. I have been pushing hard with not a lot of rest. I hit Middle run at 4:00 then met up with Matty, and Bill doh at White Clay at 5:00. The White Clay trail boys are at it again, they put in another log trick on the Brian's field loop. It is pretty cool. We hit all the fun stuff and I even rode the slinky spot. We went down Shock and Awe so fast it was like a blur, man I love that trail. We took our time going up the boundary trail, only to fly down the fun part. It was a good ride and I was able to take it easy. Hopefully I can come out at French Creek with a little more than I had Sunday.

Thanks for reading.
buddy

Tough Day in the Saddle

I was really excited about racing today. I though I was ready and was hoping for a good result. Just like the previous 3 races the fast guys were out in force. Travis made his way from Pittsburg, Tofer, Marc's buddy Wes the super fast cyclocross guy, Ed Bush decided to race Single Speed class, the return of Todd (who rode awesome today, yes folks Todd is back), Matty (who flatted and still caught me again) Big Ben, Tim, and few others I didn't know.

Even with the stiff competition I was confident. The start was blistering fast. The first half of the lap was a pure hammerfest. I went with the flow and paid the price. I have to remember, I can't start that fast and have a quality race. I started to fade and all but 4 people from my class passed me. Eventually I caught up with matt as he was changing a flat. I was just trying to ride steady and hoping to get my legs back but it never happened. Matt caught me but he was spent too so we decided to ride and finish together. As we were getting to the end of the 4th and final lap I saw one of the guys in our class was not far behind us. We started racing again, man it hurt I was totally cooked but we held him off. Matt was gracious enough to let me beat him for 7th and he was a second behind in 8th. I think we had 11 or 12 in the class today so it was a good turn out.

Well I must go watch the Survivor finally.
Thanks for reading
Buddy