I ran the Shamrock Marathon on Sunday. Worked Monday - Thursday. Thursday night I grabbed dinner and hit the highway at 8pm. At 3:30 AM, I arrived at the J. Strom Thurmond Dam. Our campsite is right up the road, however the gates close at 10pm. I sleep in my civic til 6:30 when I wake up to the sound of a Diesel engine. The ranger arrives early and opens the gate... I slide in and pull up to 'tent city'
I am met by some of my closer friends from Florida and NC. We exchange hellos and head out for breakfast. After a $13 Panera experience... We head out to ride.
The trail... Fantastic! Fast and flowing. Airborne is NOT an option. You have to work to try and keep the tires on the ground. Effortless fun! We rode three of the six loops. While on 'Big Rock' - the bottom fell out of the sky and we were in a ridiculous storm. The rain actually stung. It was coming down that hard and in big drops. The constant lightning also made things feel very uncomfortable. After making it back to camp... I put my bike in the bike stand tilted it up... an we all watched water drain from my frame. Too much rain.
Stayed up playing spades and drinking (I was told that is a Chunk requirement), we finally hit the sack around 1:30. It stormed all night, but I had enough to drink and was on 3 hours sleep... i didn't mind.
Next day, we knew the trails would be jacked, so we explored Augusta. Found 'Chain Reaction Cycles' and test rode a MukLuk. Fun times...
Went back to to camp and then hit a lesser popular train and knocked out an additional 20 miles. Yet another night of drinking....
Woke up Sunday to destroyed legs. Instead of heading out with the group, I headed home. Successful weekend. 16 hours of driving, 40 miles of trail riding. 2.5 days with close friends. 2 thunderstorms.
A little bit of a review of my trip to 'FATS'
ReplyDeleteI ran the Shamrock Marathon on Sunday. Worked Monday - Thursday. Thursday night I grabbed dinner and hit the highway at 8pm. At 3:30 AM, I arrived at the J. Strom Thurmond Dam. Our campsite is right up the road, however the gates close at 10pm. I sleep in my civic til 6:30 when I wake up to the sound of a Diesel engine. The ranger arrives early and opens the gate... I slide in and pull up to 'tent city'
I am met by some of my closer friends from Florida and NC. We exchange hellos and head out for breakfast. After a $13 Panera experience... We head out to ride.
The trail... Fantastic! Fast and flowing. Airborne is NOT an option. You have to work to try and keep the tires on the ground. Effortless fun! We rode three of the six loops. While on 'Big Rock' - the bottom fell out of the sky and we were in a ridiculous storm. The rain actually stung. It was coming down that hard and in big drops. The constant lightning also made things feel very uncomfortable. After making it back to camp... I put my bike in the bike stand tilted it up... an we all watched water drain from my frame. Too much rain.
Stayed up playing spades and drinking (I was told that is a Chunk requirement), we finally hit the sack around 1:30. It stormed all night, but I had enough to drink and was on 3 hours sleep... i didn't mind.
Next day, we knew the trails would be jacked, so we explored Augusta. Found 'Chain Reaction Cycles' and test rode a MukLuk. Fun times...
Went back to to camp and then hit a lesser popular train and knocked out an additional 20 miles. Yet another night of drinking....
Woke up Sunday to destroyed legs. Instead of heading out with the group, I headed home. Successful weekend. 16 hours of driving, 40 miles of trail riding. 2.5 days with close friends. 2 thunderstorms.
It was a full weekend.
I'm glad someone is out having bicycle adventures. Personally, I'm looking forward to the Bandito's Burrito Lounge trip. When is that happening?
ReplyDeleteBandito Burrito century will hopefully be in 6-10 weeks. I need time to get my cycling legs back. The past six months have been all about running.
ReplyDelete