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SORBA down under

Sumter Metric.
Yah trick Yah!

What a great day. WNDC in the house.

Spent Saturday in the Ho (Tahoe) and on Sumter, SC trails with DG, ZB and Mr. Tomato. Days like this help me realize how thankful i am for all my friends. It was swell to spend some time with them all.

The format of this Sorba benefit race was 20+- miles of rooty, hot sweaty, 100% humidity, low country single track and 40+- miles of gravel/shake n' bake pavement. I entered the Clydesdale class, against the nagging wishes of my friends, but it's a class i enjoy and am well qualified for.

Another lemans start. Blah. Uphill, in cycling shoes almost 1/3 mile. I put my bike at the end of the transition area in hope of a quick get away. I hit the single track in about 15th or 20th, after my extraordinarily slow uphill jog. I passed many people in the single track and was just settling in to a good pace when my chain broke. Dang it! Quickly fixed it and hit the trail. I guess i was in about 5-10th when the chain broke and now i was in probably 25th - 30th. Much ground to cover. We had 55 + miles ahead so there was plenty of time to get back into good position.

Until I flatted. Okay, no big deal. Get back in and go.

Another flat.

Okay. I'm out now for sure. I fixed it quickly and kept rolling. Second flat came with only 3 miles remaining. Oh well.

I rolled in to meet ZB with some excellent recovery beverages and some kick but burgers, cole slaw, beans and potato salad. Yay! I had arrived!

The trails were fun and reminiscent of my formative mountain biking years in Athens, GA and the ATL area: roots, tight single track, full on constant cranking, 100% humidity. I sweat gallons. Thankfully, an early afternoon rain cooled things down but didn't make the wooden bridges any less slippery.

Our crew represented well. a first, a second, a third and another huge milestone for DG also the DD for our Ho ride home.

Big props to SORBA and all who helped out. If you do not belong to SORBA, you best join. They do a lot for us mountain bikers.
Peace.

Comments

The Evil MGE! said…
Sounds awesome bro!
May 18, 2009 at 12:25 AM
Anonymous said…
Nice ride, nice completion. -sometimes we just have to keep on pluggin through adversity - but whats a broken chain in this lifetime anyway?


Just a few more minutes for the beverages to chill.
May 18, 2009 at 6:16 AM
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