Tropical Storm Fay

Tropical Storm Fay rolled through Florida last week, putting a dent in our training plans. It rained for 3 days straight, dumping as much as 2 feet of rain. Persistent Tropical Storm Force winds downded trees and powerlines.

So with 2 feet of rain, 50mph winds,downed debris and powerlines , riding outside was not an option. Spent a couple of days on the trainer.

We were fortunate, the intracoastal only made it a few feet into the backyard, and only lost a couple of plants.

Jacksonville Road Race Teamwork

Deb was on call this weekend, so I was left to my own devices.I did the Jacksonville Road Race.

We (Velobrew/ Pulte Homes) had 8 guys in the Cat IV race. We utilized our team,and it actually worked. We had a guy bridge up to a solo break on the third lap, and they stayed away to the end.

I helped my teammate get away by soft pedaling behind him when he jumped. Then we took turns going to the front, sitting on the front gradually slowing the pace. There was a big headwind on the back stretch, and nobody wanted to come around us and take the front until someone would evenually get frustrated with the slow pace.

At least one of the team chased any attacks, and we repeated the process of going to the front and controlling the pace, every time someone else tried to up the pace.Because we sucessfully covered every attack, I think other teams got discouraged from attacking,and by the last lap the pack was racing for third.

Unfortunately my teammate took second in the two up sprint, but a heck of a ride to stay away on a course that had a brutal headwind.I finished in the pack, but couldn't have had more fun if I was the one in the break.

Six Gap and Brasstown

Last weekend we went to North Georgia to do hill work. People not familiar with North Georgia, may not associate Goergia with hills. However North Georgia has a substantial amount of climbing,and two of the more challenging climbs in the Southeast in Brasstown Bald and Hogpen.

We stayed in Helen Georgia, a faux Bavarian village. Helen is very convenient to the good climbing, being 3 miles from the start of Hogpen, and 18 miles to Brasstown.

Saturday we did the Six Gap Century Course http://www.dahlonega.org/index.php/festivals/six-gap-century-&-three-gap-fifty-bike-ride.html which includes 6 named climbs, the hardest of which is Hogpen. Hogpen is 7 miles long, and averages 7% grade with a sustained 15% section.

Because we started in Helen, we did the Century course out of order starting on Hogpen. We did well on Hogpen, but by the top of Neel's, our 4th gap we were fading a bit. 93 degree heat (abnormally high for North Georgia wasn't helping our cause.) We pretty much limped home for there, having completed 9500 feet of climbing.

Sunday, we did 3 Gaps, plus Brasstown. Brasstown is 3 miles averaging 11% grade, with "the Wall" which is 21% grade. We took it pretty easy up Brasstown, saving ourselves for the Wall. It took just about all we had to turn the cranks over on the Wall even with a gear of 26/27. But we made it to the Top.

Staying in Helen, we found a wonderful restaurant, Cafe Le Piazza. Owned by the Chef himself, the food is fantastic, and the wine selection, although limited in number was fantastic.

So in the progression, we've now completed a century, completed a hard mountain century, and are working on hard consecutive days. Making progress but still a long way to being prepared for EC, and time is starting to run short.