The Hammer and The Nail...

Like the saying goes, sometimes you are the hammer and sometimes you are the nail.
Well Tuesday night I made my way to the TNT ride at Middle Run. There was a nice group of some pretty fast guys joining the fun. As always Todd leads this ride. Todd took off out of the parking lot, and it seemed it was going to be like a mid season ride. We made our way to toward the Judge, once we crossed the road, I made a move. Over the years I have learned a lot from Todd, and the one thing that came to me at the time, was hit them when they least expect it, and hit them hard. I launched into the woods, got the whole shot and kept the pace up. Once we hit the "Peppy Section" I turned it up a bit. The trails were a bit slick from the 10 minute shower we just had, but they were still fast. I looked back and all I saw was Peaches on my Wheel I was going to back off but he encouraged me to keep going.
It was a short effort, but it certainly took it's toll on me. I thought Todd would have been on, but I found out he was still running his easier winter gear and was spun out. After that the ride calmed down a bit, which was a good thing because I was about ready to crack.

Yesterday, I was one of the unlucky folks that had to work, so I couldn't do Marc's French Creek ride. So I planned to ride at Fair Hill after work. Much to my surprise, I was joined by, Todd, Peaches, Les(pulling the double), Rotten Rob, Kurtee, and for a short while, Jan, E Town, and Mike.

If i was the hammer on Tuesday, I was certainly the nail yesterday. Todd offered to give us a sneak peak of the race course, I liked the idea. I will say this, It is going to be a tough one this year.
Out of the parking lot I was thinking I may be in trouble, because I was feeling a bit tired, plus it seemed like we did nothing but climb for the first 45 minutes. Half way through the ride I started to crack, I was drifting farther and farther off Todd, Peaches, and Les' wheels. Then we stopped for food after South Park, and headed for 5 Bridges. After the beginning part 5 bridges, I started to feel better, and we rolled into Crack Head Bob. After that we just made our way back to the lot. We didn't ride the whole course but we got the jist of it, The good part is the end is a little easier than the beginning, I am hoping to race and finnish this year.

After the ride we were treated to some of Kurtee's home brew, he made an excellent IPA, can't wait for the next batch, or the next ride.

Cheers,
Buddy