Fried
Green 50
The Fried
Green 50 (FG50) is one of my favorite cycling events of the year. It’s mostly dirt road riding in the Piedmont
Wildlife Refuge (PWR). I love the
PWR! It was a smaller-than-usual crowd
at the FG50 this year. I’m not even sure
how many people were racing it. The
fastest guys dropped me regardless, but I didn’t see any other women
nearby. So, I set a goal of riding tempo
the whole way. Perhaps an even bigger success,
I rode across all six creek crossings without stopping!
At the
finish I had my taken picture with the perennial FG50 witch.
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| Which witch is which? |
I skedaddled
home because I had planned a Halloween picnic for Robert and me that evening. Although I love picnics, I’ve never thought
of having one in the fall. Because the weather was still pretty warm and Daylight Saving Time had not yet ended, conditions were perfect for an early evening outing.
Robert has been working on a trail behind our house. He took me to a beautiful hillside covered with beech trees. One of his relatives had the foresight several decades ago not to turn this area into pasture like much of the surrounding property.
We hiked in with a backpack and basket - a real picnic!
Our menu included Bloody Marys with Eyeballs (garlic-stuffed olives), Monster Muffaletta, Yummy Mummy (pumpkin/cream cheese dip) with crudites and pretzels, Bat Fruit Salad (all ingredients rely on bats for pollination), and Ashes Cookies (named for Ashes the World's Best Office Cat).
I took my menu inspiration from elementary school lunches. Every year on Halloween, my elementary school cafeteria served Ghost Meat, Witch's Hair, Dragon's Tooth, and Green Eyeballs in Blood. It was so exciting! Well, the names were anyway. It was really spaghetti with meat sauce, potato triangle (like at Arby's), and green grapes in red Jell-O. Elementary school lunches were legendary for being an incongruous combination of items.
Deer Dash/Deer Festival
My buttocks wasn't completely healed from the SEGA 5K in early October. I had tried running a few times since then, mostly unsuccessfully. Therefore, I decided to walk the Deer Dash 5K with Allie and Fleetwood, the same as I had done at the SEGA 5K.
Part of me really struggled with not running the Deer Dash competitively as I always have. If I had been in my usual running form, I would have won my age group and perhaps women's masters. On the other hand, it didn't seem smart to force myself through the pain. So, I made the best of the situation, enjoyed the beautiful (if chilly!) morning, and just had fun.
I have two ideas about why it's been so difficult for me to run this year. One is that I've emphasized endurance cycling so much this year that it was harder to transition back to running. The other possibility is that I'm getting older (gasp!). It's probably a lot of strain on my body to pick up running in August each year, giving myself only two months before I start racing my annual 5Ks. Because of PBP this year, I didn't start back running until September, even less time than usual to recondition myself.
Next year I'm determined to be back in good racing form for the SEGA 5K and the Deer Dash. I'll start training in July. My athletic goals have always been in cycling, but it's good to have a running goal for next year, too.
I went home after the Deer Dash, took a shower, and then headed back up to the square on my bicycle. This is my usual order of operations on Deer Festival Day. It's a lot easier to handle traffic and parking by riding my bicycle to the festival.
My first order of business was the Venison Cookoff. I love venison, but Robert doesn't like it. The Venison Cookoff at the Deer Festival is my once chance to enjoy venison each year. For $10, you can sample all the items the contestants have prepared. The trick is that you have to get there pretty early. I arrived at 11:45 AM, and two of my favorite dishes were already gone: Liz's Mexican venison casserole and Jimmy's venison chili (almost like a chowder). Next year I'll hightail it back to the Deer Festival after the Deer Dash so that I don't miss out on any of the venison entries.
I always buy something at the Deer Festival. Not that I need any more, but this has been the year for cool T-shirts. Before I bought this one, I checked to make sure the coordinates are correct.
On my ride home, I passed this sign:
Two great things about the South: festivals for just about everything and signs for fresh vegetables for sale.
Robert's cousin Joel and Joel's son Ben were visiting. We all walked around the trail Robert has been building behind our house.
After our walk, I took my mountain bike out for its second ever spin. I rode on a portion of Robert's new trail. It was much more technical than I anticipated. I still need a lot of practice.
Sherman’s March 200K Permanent
Part of me really struggled with not running the Deer Dash competitively as I always have. If I had been in my usual running form, I would have won my age group and perhaps women's masters. On the other hand, it didn't seem smart to force myself through the pain. So, I made the best of the situation, enjoyed the beautiful (if chilly!) morning, and just had fun.
I have two ideas about why it's been so difficult for me to run this year. One is that I've emphasized endurance cycling so much this year that it was harder to transition back to running. The other possibility is that I'm getting older (gasp!). It's probably a lot of strain on my body to pick up running in August each year, giving myself only two months before I start racing my annual 5Ks. Because of PBP this year, I didn't start back running until September, even less time than usual to recondition myself.
Next year I'm determined to be back in good racing form for the SEGA 5K and the Deer Dash. I'll start training in July. My athletic goals have always been in cycling, but it's good to have a running goal for next year, too.
I went home after the Deer Dash, took a shower, and then headed back up to the square on my bicycle. This is my usual order of operations on Deer Festival Day. It's a lot easier to handle traffic and parking by riding my bicycle to the festival.
My first order of business was the Venison Cookoff. I love venison, but Robert doesn't like it. The Venison Cookoff at the Deer Festival is my once chance to enjoy venison each year. For $10, you can sample all the items the contestants have prepared. The trick is that you have to get there pretty early. I arrived at 11:45 AM, and two of my favorite dishes were already gone: Liz's Mexican venison casserole and Jimmy's venison chili (almost like a chowder). Next year I'll hightail it back to the Deer Festival after the Deer Dash so that I don't miss out on any of the venison entries.
I always buy something at the Deer Festival. Not that I need any more, but this has been the year for cool T-shirts. Before I bought this one, I checked to make sure the coordinates are correct.
On my ride home, I passed this sign:
Two great things about the South: festivals for just about everything and signs for fresh vegetables for sale.
Robert's cousin Joel and Joel's son Ben were visiting. We all walked around the trail Robert has been building behind our house.
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| Robert and Joel |
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| Flat Rock |
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| Robert showing how he plans to build a bicycle bridge over the barbed wire fence |
Sherman’s March 200K Permanent
The next day I got back in my more familiar groove and rode the Sherman's March 200K permanent. With no November brevet on the Audax Atlanta schedule, I needed a permanent to complete my R-12 quest. The R-12 award is for completing a 200K or longer randonneuring event each month for 12 consecutive months. The events can be brevets and/or permanents.
This November permanent marked the completion of my sixth consecutive R-12. I have a long-term goal of achieving the Ultra R-12 award, which is ten R-12's. Only four more R-12's to go!
My friend Julie rode the Sherman's March 200K permanent with me. She also recruited Beth and Tristan, two of her cycling friends from Atlanta, to join us. It was cold to start, but it warmed up a good bit, and the four of us had a very enjoyable day on the bike.
Peach Peloton
Although I'm not a fan of cold weather, Peach Peloton is a big warm spot during the fall and winter months. We usually kick of Peach Peloton on the first Saturday in November, but this year several of us regulars had conflicts that day (Deer Dash for me). Therefore, we started Peach Peloton the next Saturday. We also made it a thank you to Mt. Zion Baptist Church, asking all the riders to make a donation to the church. Mt. Zion lets us use their parking lot year-round for Tuesday and Thursday Worlds as well as Peach Peloton.
I hadn't ridden with my Macon cyclopeeps in a while, and it was so good to see them again.
By the way, when Robert and I were heading home from Peach Peloton that day, we stopped at Bowdoin's Store in Juliette for gas. On the weekends, a guy hangs out there selling fried pork rinds. Our friend Monte highly recommends these particular pork rinds. So, we decided to give them a try. The pork rind chef has five kinds: plain, lemon pepper, sweet BBQ, spicy BBQ, and salt & vinegar. We got spicy BBQ - light, crispy, and just right on the heat. They'd be extra good right out of the kettle.
MTB
The next day, Robert and I rode our mountain bikes again on the trails near the Ocmulgee River. I shredded a little more gnar than the last time. That's my goal each ride.
Sunday afternoon is turning into mountain bike practice. This past Sunday, Robert met Monte in Juliette at noon for another Ocmulgee River trail ride. I would have joined them, but I had already committed to being the liturgist at church that morning. (I am the liturgist. Goo goo g'joob.) So, I grabbed a quick lunch after church and then headed south on my mountain bike. They were going to ride at least a few hours, and my plan was to meet up with them along the way.
I rode on some of my favorite roads in the PWR. Usually, I ride them on my cyclocross bike. Riding them on my mountain bike felt like riding a tricked-out mo-chine.
I did take one trail that definitely was better suited to MTB. I encountered a mud puddle that stretched across the entire path. Wanting to hone my technical skills, I thought, "I can ride through that!" I sallied forth and came to a standstill midway through. The water was about two feet deep. I toppled over - splorsh! - and my whole left side got wet and muddy. No harm, no foul.
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