Home Again

So after 22 days on the road and couches/air mattresses, I have finally come home, and to amazing weather no less.

I managed to get back to some singletrack, which was cool:

Jack rabbit trails are pretty rad, not too technical, super flowy, my kind of trails. (read: I don't turn well)
More info and a cool video I found, here: http://ngeorgiacycling.com/JackRabbit.html

Which brings me to next point, http://ngeorgiacycling.com/ is growing pretty quickly, started to get cool.  I made a facebook group, which is linked on the front page of the website, and that is growing well too.

Sorry if you are viewing this via North Georgia Cycling, that would be redundant.

Anywho, next up is Chattanooga, probobly Arkansas, then I guess France.  Game on.

GMR

So after being humbled in spectacular fashion at San Dimas, I found myself with an unexpected day off.  Of course I had to go find the top of Glendora Mountain Road, and almost 2 hours later, I decided it was worthy of a picture, or in this case, 5.  The view is that big.

Glendora

So I got to ride without leg warmers today.  In fact, it was in the mid 80s, not a cloud in the sky, and downright pleasant.  The ride for the day was to wander up the Glendora mountain road for a while, then either find another way back or turn around.  It ended up being over 90 mins of steady climbing in some of the most spectacular terrain I have ever ridden, followed by some solid descending and a leisurely ride home.  Pretty awesome, I highly reccomend it.

I really like roads where you can turn around and see where you came from, and this is no exception.  This is about 4 miles in the 18 miles that I managed to knock out, and you can see all the way to the beginning, in the top left.

Next up?  I guess I have to race at some point, but exploring new roads is also tempting. 

Websites

So the team went down to Rouge Roubiax last weekend.  It was about as expected, dirt, sketchy, fast, dissapointing.

I ended up feeling pretty bad at the start but right as the legs were coming around, my day was ended by the worst timed flat in this history of time.  Olheiser went on to do his thing and ride to a strong 5th, despite some bad luck.  It was definitely a cool race though, I will definitely go back next year, if for nothing else than to hang out with our awesome hosts.

Here is me, probably getting dropped.  That dirt was really loose and sketchy, not my kind of thing, I am top heavy.

This weekend I will have another shot at faux-roubaix glory in Perry, Georgia, before flying out to San Dimas

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Yeah, that place is gonna be awesome.

In recent news, I also have been continuing to help out Christian with his new website, www.christianparrett.com. He has had some big news, so check it out.

Also, I am working on a new site, www.ngeorgiacycling.com, which is still growing and being built so bear with me for a while, but it will serve as a way to share my knowledge of the roads in this oasis I call home.

Whoa

So... kind of fell off the bandwagon here.

I've been doing the usual, avoiding snow, riding bikes, sleeping on couches.  No real awesome bike races, but some ok rides.

Next weekend I am headed to Louisiana via Huntsville for Rouge Roubiax, and that should be a cool race.  I keep hearing how ridiculous it is, so hopefully it lives up to its infamy.

I probably have some good pictures to post, but for now they are trapped on my phone due to no service.  One of these days I will get around to posting them.

On the side I've been working on a few projects, ChristianParrett.com, a cyclocross team for 2010, and some stock pickin'.  For Christian's website and the team, I am pretty much on an endless quest for sponsor money, we will see how that goes.  As for the stock pickin', well, I guess it's better than the gambling problem I developed in the Bahamas.

My body thermometer is so confused right now.

So alot has been going on.  Went to tour of the Bahamas, got a tan, beat of former tour de france winner, and pretty much no one else.  We ate well, but mostly badly, almost got killed trying to remember to ride on the left side of the road and generally had a great time.

I got to come home to some god awful weather, and have pledged to murder mother nature at some point.  She better watch out.

Now we are moving on to the new venture.  Cross team.  Makin' it happen.  We are looking to get some money,  wander the country and ride bikes in circles running away from hypothermia.  I'll keep you posted.

Cars and Beaches

This is awesome.

Tour of the Bahamas in 6 days, get excited.

Desert Flashbacks

It is a horrible, horrible phone picture, but just pretend it's an artistic effect.

Seriously though, it's a cactus farm.  Yeah, a cactus farm.  Somewhere south of Macon (we were really lost).  I can't really explain it, so I had to take a picture.

Is there a market for cacti in south Georgia?

Brrrrr

It is cold.  Like really cold.  When I started riding today, it was 22.  22.  I live in the south for a reason, and that is Chick Fila.  But a secondary reason, is the warmth.  I feel cheated.

Please, join me in staring at this page and silently weeping.
http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KGABLAIR5&day=4&year=2010&month=1&graphspan=week

Macon

Thanks to some awful weather at home, I have gotten another chance to ride in Macon this week.  Weather hasn't been amazing here, but it's much better than the alternative.  Plus the roads are way better than most people would think.  Here is a random sampling of the roads big enough to have street view, keep in mind these are the 2nd or even 3rd teir roads down here.


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Chestnut Knob

Add to the list of cool climbs you have never heard of: Chestnut Knob. It's a dirt climb, probobly not the kind you want to do on a road bike, but definately could with ease. It's mostly that on a mountain bike, the descent is way more fun. Like really. It's awesome.

Anyways, here is a picture from today(click on it to see a bigger version):


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Happenings

So not a ton has been going on.  Christmas has come and past, and so too has the few days of nice weather.  Did manage to get in a ridiculous ride in Tiger, GA, involving almost no pavement, no map, and no clue where we were for most of it.

This was the "road" we walked on for a while before finding something more rideable.

We also found a cool waterfall on a road we thought would be paved.  Turns out not only was it dirt, but we were going the wrong way, and this was the end of it.

Afterwards, I handled some last minute Christmas shopping and spotted the worlds fattest cat.  Don't be fooled, he is quick.  I chased this guy around the store loudly and awkwardly (my trademark) for a good while before capturing his true girth in a photo.

This morning, in honor and memory of the fat cat (which I assume has died by now due to a cholesterol related death), I made a delicious ham egg and cheese breakfast sandwich.

I love breakfast, kind of alot.

Other cool Blogs

Been a while since I posted last, not like I have an excuse or anything, just acknowledging the fact.

Anywho... Here are a couple of blogs I have been reading lately that I thought were really interesting:

First is http://blog.guerrillacomm.com/ .  It is a blog about guerrilla marketing, and really just shows interesting marketing campaigns from around the world.

Second is http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp .  Which is a great way to get in your morning smugness.  I like to sip coffee and read about avant garde art, so I can feel classy for at least a few minutes a day.

Finally, http://thebicycledoctor.blogspot.com/ .  Scott is the man, and everyone needs to know it.

That is all.

The best climbs you have never heard of

Check this out:
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3370672


I cant figure out how to embed that, so just goto the page separately, but it is the wolf creek rd. climb.  Pretty rough dirt road, especially at the top, but its good for nearly an hour or sometimes more of steady hard climbing. It's pretty absurd, the topo map doesn't do some of these stretches justice.  I've done it on road and mountain bikes, it's never easy.  This is just one of the many many climbs in the '6-gap area' that no one really ever rides.  

Blairsville

Back in Blairsville for Christmas, riding here ain't bad:

Macon Ga

So, it's cold in the mountains, so I spent the weekend at my winter home, Christian's place in the Maconga.

Here are some pictures from the weekend in no particular order:

Somewhere about halfway between Auburn and Macon, there is a tiny tiny town, with an awesome courthouse.  Don't worry, there was a pack of stray dogs wandering around the other side of the square, which was causing the worst traffic jam this town has ever seen.  At least 5 cars.

About 15 minutes later, there were some big silos.  I don't know why, but I like silos.

Got to Macon in time to ride some awesome roads, including this, one of the best dirt roads around.

On Saturday it was 36 degrees and pouring rain, which meant a solid breakfast and an excessive amount of coffee.  Yeah, I did fill the holes in the bagel with egg so that i could cram more cheese into the center.  Glorious.

I'm not going to say it was the hardest ride ever done or anything, but it was bad enough that Christian laid down to stretch and fell asleep for a couple hours, while me and his dad watched kung fu movies.  The picture is horrible quality, but is the kind of thing that just needs to be on the internet.  I hope you understand.

Quebexico

So, a couple years back, I got to race in Canada.  "Up there in the bush" as a French hair dresser described Val'dor in line for customs. 





Just found this, which is a pretty cool overview of the race in true Quebexican form (half English half French)


You can even see me sitting at the back of the field watching the athletes actually race.

Pakistan

If it weren't for my natural fear of small arms fire, I would love to go ride bikes, motorcycles, cars, donkeys, anything here:

Crossword

What is 6 letters for "object that a triathlete cannot cross"?


here is a hint:

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Attaboy Nate.

Italia

So, by now you surely know that I love google street view.  Well, I found something cool:

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Yeah, thats the ruins of Pompeii. Awesome.