State of Gravel

State of Gravel is billed as Georgia's unofficial gravel state championship.  In its second year, it was postponed from last spring to this past Saturday due to COVID-19.  Last year I didn't have a very good race, and so I was determined to make up for it this year.  I didn't think I'd win this year - lots of tough competition - but I simply wanted to keep my head in the race and do my best.

Robert and I headed out early Saturday morning.  It was only about an hour's drive, and the race started at 9:00 AM, and so it wasn't an unbearably early morning.  The staging area was Camp Swamp, a really nice camp facility near Union Point, GA.

I felt the usual pre-race jitters (no barfy...).  I've done enough of these things to know that I would be fine once I got into a groove during the race itself.  I got fairly close to the front of the pack for the mass start.  The first thing I focused on was being careful at the first turn about 100 m from the start line.  Last year a group went down right off the bat!  Fortunately, no one did this year.

I pedaled steadily but not too hard; I would be on the bike for more than four hours on the 69-mile course.  Almost right away I spotted my friend Jennifer.  Because I just turned 50, I was in the same category as her this year, 50+ Women.  Jennifer is such a strong racer!  She's 64 and crushes most of the women half her age.  I hung with her for a few miles, but she dropped me, as I anticipated.  She trains hard but also has alien genetics (like a female Bill Causey).  Although I wish I could race like Jennifer, I used the situation to my advantage by finding some humor in it.  Thinking about Jennifer being an alien, I remembered a song that some of my elementary school classmates wrote for a project on commercials and advertising, "Crater."

I was sent to the moon
I was jumping around
When I fell into a crater
And I didn't make a sou-wound

My cord didn't hold me
It began to break
So I took my chances
I began to faint

When I ran into an alien
And we went on a date
In a crater

My classmates probably would be amazed that I still remember the lyrics to "Crater."  This was the first of several songs that ran through my head during the race, sustaining me through the pain.

One of Jennifer's Sorella teammates was also riding with us at first.  She looked to be about my age, and so I assumed she was another 50+ competitor.  I got into a break with Jennifer and a few guys, leaving the other woman behind.  After I got dropped, I was by myself, but I knew not to fall into the trap of letting up.  I kept going, maintaining that balance of going hard but being able to keep it up for several hours.

After some miles, a group of beardy hipster dudes and a younger woman whizzed by me.  How does that happen?  I'll be going hard for a while, and a group passes me like I'm standing still.  It seems like they should have passed me way earlier.  Oh, well.  I didn't worry about the woman because I didn't think she was 50+.

Right as the hipsters were passing me, we got to a section of dirt road with a lot of potholes.  Because of the group and the shade on the road, I couldn't see the potholes until I was right on top of them.  I made a split-second decision to maintain my line and as much momentum as possible.  Whomp!  Whomp!  Whomp!  Whomp!  Although it was a little rattling, it reminded me to keep my cool.

Later, a teenaged guy passed me.  Another guy also came up about then.  I hopped on his wheel to draft.  Then, here came the 50+ Sorella woman!  The three of us rode together for a bit.  She wound up on the front at about the time the older guy pulled ahead to catch the teenaged guy.  I figured I would take advantage of drafting her for as long as possible.  However, when we got to a moderate climb, she was going a lot more slowly than I wanted to.  So, I climbed hard and dropped her.  Would I be able to stay away?

I mentally fixed on riding as hard as I could solo.  Then, another group of four guys came by - not unsustainably fast, and so I hopped on the back.  Gonna hitch a ride, head for the other side - Boston.

I hoped I would get a good jump on the 50+ woman as I rode with this group.  I stayed with them for a few miles, but they dropped me on a downhill.  Guys usually drop me on downhills because I'm lighter, but also I'm not an aggressive descender.  I'll take safety any day.

Lo and behold, here came the 50+ woman!  Eek!  She was like a zombie, coming after me again and again in a bad dream.  Cue the next earworm:

In your head, in your head, zombie, zombie, zombie-ie-ie - The Cranberries (appropriate, as I had had cranberries in my oatmeal that morning - rocket fuel!)

Obviously, I wasn't going to drop this woman easily, and so I determined to put as many seconds into her as I could on every climb.  Even if she caught up (which she always did), I hoped this would wear on her mentally.

One time when I had pulled ahead, I heard someone come up behind me.  I assumed it was the zombie, but it turned out to be a guy.  I told him that I thought he was the woman behind me.  He said that she told him she was getting tired.  I tucked away that bit of data, strengthening my resolve to beat her.

The race director had told us at the pre-race meeting that there were four creek crossings.  The zombie was with me at the last three.  I walked all of them because with my recent bad luck on creek crossings, I didn't want to injure myself.  It was worth the few extra seconds it would cost me.  On the fourth one, the zombie rode through it and got a pretty good lead on me.  However, it was a long, steep climb out of the creek, and so I put the hammer down and passed her on the way up.  I got ahead again, but I fully expected her to catch me yet again.

She did.

The final SAG was in Maxeys, about seven miles from the finish.  I was low on water, but I didn't want to take the time to stop.  But the zombie did!  I put my head down, continuing as hard as I could but assuming that was all she wrote.

The last guy who had passed me earlier caught up to me again after he stopped at the SAG.  Correctly assuming that I would welcome intel, he confirmed that the zombie had stopped for water.

It's alive!

Dang it, can you believe she caught me again!  Kudos to her for fighting so hard.

After all that, I couldn't let up in the final few miles.  Melissa Etheridge started singing in my head: Somebody bring me some water, can't you see I'm burning alive.  Actually, I wasn't hot.  The temperature was great.  In fact, the weather was about as beautiful as it gets for November.

I was slightly ahead of the zombie, but of course every time I looked over my shoulder, there she was.  At each hill, no matter how big or small, I went hard, trying to gain a few seconds and/or put a dent in her psyche.

We turned into Camp Swamp.  It was less than a mile to the finish line.  Don't give up now!

I made the last turn toward the finish line.  A guy was on the left, and I took the right, essentially blocking the zombie (an intentional tactic on my part).  She rode up on the grass as if she might try to pass.  Tens of meters from the finish, I gave it one last push across the line - right before the zombie!

Whew!  That hurt.  Slowly I made my way back to the car.  Wait...I had been toward the front of the pack at the start line.  If the zombie had started behind me, she might have rolled across the initial timing mat significantly after I did.  Therefore, even if she crossed the finish line after me, there was a chance her overall time might have been less than mine.  I simply had to wait for the results...

In the meantime, it was fun to catch up with Jennifer.

Soon, the race director called out the podium for 50+ Women.  1st place - Jennifer (no surprise, and she also came in 3rd overall for women), 2nd place - me!  3rd place - the zombie.  (I found out then that her real name is Karen.)  Can you believe I beat Karen by only 1 second?  I've been on the other side of that, so maybe it was just my turn to eke it out.

I congratulated both Jennifer and Karen on a great race.  Karen said, "Did you do the Red Clay Ramble?"  I replied, "Yes."  She said, "You beat me there, too."  Sorry not sorry.

Coffeeneuring #5 - Good Grief!

I've been continuing my coffeeneuring Theme Within a Theme of riding on dirt roads and drinking a different type of tea each time - Let's Get Dirt Tea!

After another busy work week and racing yesterday, I'm finally getting around to writing about my latest coffeeneuring adventure, which was last Sunday.  I visited my friend Grief at Concord Primitive Baptist Church and drank some green ginger tea.  I discovered Grief's grave several years ago and am fascinated with his name and the fact that he almost made it to 100 years old so long ago.

Sitting on a big tree stump to drink my tea

Although the forecast showed little chance of rain, the sky looked rather ominous as rode into western Jasper County toward Concord Primitive Baptist Church.  I suspected I would get wet before the end of my ride, but it was still a beautiful afternoon as I continued on my route.

Sure enough, a few miles later a light rain began.  I considered modifying my route, not to make it shorter but to get home sooner.  I still wanted to ride at least 50K so that my ride would count for the Hudson Valley Virtual Brevet Post-Season Play.  But did I want to stick with my original plan to go by Dairy Queen for my annual pumpkin pie Blizzard?  I wasn't sure when I might have another good opportunity for a Blizzard.  Also, I remembered one last stop I intended to make.  Therefore, I stuck with the original route.

Happily, the rain let up.  I wheeled into Dairy Queen.  There were a lot of cars in the drive-through, and so I donned my mask and ordered inside.  Then, I took my Blizzard outside to eat.  I asked for a mini, but they gave me a mongo (not sad).

My final stop was on the Monticello square.  I wanted to get a picture of the City's scarecrow, which was in the local scarecrow contest.  I hadn't noticed it until a few nights previously, when I parked in front of it to pick up takeout from La Eskina.  It had been too dark to get a photo then.

The scarecrow contest had already ended, and so I knew I didn't have much time to get a photo before it was taken down.  My prediction was correct; the scarecrow was gone a few days later.

The rain picked up again during the last few miles of my ride.  I got home just before dark and just before the rain started coming down in buckets.  I settled in with a nice, warm shower and a little leftover green ginger tea.

Meat and Three

Here in the South, a common type of restaurant is a meat and three.  You pick one meat from several selections (fried chicken, ham, country fried steak, etc.) and three side dishes, which typically include various vegetables (sweet potato souffle, cabbage, black-eyed peas, etc.) and starches (potatoes, corn, lima beans, etc.).  This catch-up post for several fun rides in the past few weeks is also a meat and three: chicken, pumpkins, fried green tomatoes, and peaches.

Wild Chicken 100

The Wild Chicken 100 was supposed to be in April but was postponed due to COVID-19.  It was rescheduled for October 10th but then was postponed again due to weather.  The third time, October 24th, was the charm.

I left home early for the 9:00 AM start in Fitzgerald, GA, a little more than a two-hour drive.  Fitzgerald is known for the wild chickens that run around town - hence, the ride name.  The ride staging area was The Depot, and so we had some trains, too.

Chickens and bicycles - what's not to love?

Inside The Depot

As I waited for the ride to start, I rode across the street to check this out:

I joked that someone is going to be giving the Big Chicken in Marietta a run for its money.  Later, I found out that it is, in fact, going to be taller than the Big Chicken in Marietta.  Also, it will be the world's largest chicken topiary (not sure how many chicken topiaries there are).  And...it's going to be an Airbnb!  I have a new life goal (to stay in the giant chicken topiary Airbnb).

About 40 of us rolled out.  The first few miles were a neutral start around downtown.  It was a nice way to see the lovely streets and homes and - bonus! - some wild chickens.  A few miles outside of town, I turned off on the 100-mile option.  I rode solo the rest of the day as most people did the 30- or 62-mile option.

I enjoyed riding through the South Georgia farmland.  Lots of cotton is grown near Fitzgerald, and it's harvest time.

Hay bale chicken

Woo hoo!

I love pecan orchards.

Cotton and bloom

The irrigators in South Georgia always fascinate me.

The 100-mile route went through some particularly pretty areas.  I came to a dirt road with a gate across it, but we had been given instructions that we had permission to ride on this road and to just climb over the gate.  This road went through some beautiful, large tracts of farmland.

Cotton on the ground and cotton in the sky

Next came the Alapaha Wildlife Management Area.  It was good for the soul.

Longleaf pines

Palmetto

I was so grateful for this SAG stop in Ocilla!  I missed the first one and had run out of water by the time I got to this one.

Toward the end of the ride, I also stopped at the third and final rest stop at Union Church.

As you can see, there's no real parking lot, which gave me a chuckle about this sign:

I made it back to Fitzgerald!  It had been a fun day of riding on just about every kind of surface: pavement; gravel; hard-packed dirt; and loose, sandy soil (good for working on my technical skills!).  A train passed The Depot right as I got back.

I went inside The Depot to change clothes and have some refreshments.  As I browsed around the building, I was happy to see this poster.  My father worked for Southern Railway, which became Norfolk-Southern.  When I was little, we rode the Crescent from Atlanta to Washington, D.C. several times.

Ride organizer David Dark told me that I was the first 100-mile finisher!  I hadn't seen anyone else on the route the entire day and assumed I was the only one doing that option.  It turns out that five or six others did it, too, but were behind me.  I got some great swag!

This is probably the coolest coffee mug I've ever seen.  These are portions of the architectural blueprints of the topiary chicken being built across the road from The Depot.

I really enjoyed the day.  Thank you, David, for all your hard work to put on the Wild Chicken 100!

Pumpkin Peloton

Robert organized Pumpkin Peloton rides for Saturdays in October.  Pumpkin Peloton is a relatively mellow, steady group ride just for base mileage.  The hard stuff, i.e., Peach Peloton, starts in November (see below).  I went to as many Pumpkin Pelotons as I could this year, on the Saturdays when I didn't have other rides scheduled.  The final Pumpkin Peloton, appropriately, was on Halloween.

We started in downtown Macon.  There were a few tricks going through a park, e.g., carrying our bikes over a chain gate.  Later in the ride, we got treats at Jake's house: OCPs (oatmeal creme pies) and Coca-Colas.

Jake hosted us in this really nice barn/outbuilding at his house.  I got a kick out of his lineup of fishing poles, which is kind of like Robert's and my bicycles hanging on our garage wall.

I really enjoyed riding with my Macon cyclopeeps and am glad that I'll still see many of them at Peach Peloton.

Fried Green 50

The Fried Green 50 (named for the movie Fried Green Tomatoes, which was filmed in nearby Juliette) is the first Sunday in November.  It's one of my favorite rides of the year, going through the Piedmont Wildlife Refuge (PWR).

Longtime organizer Monte made it a little more casual this year - no podiums.  I wasn't sad because the pressure to race was off.  Also, everyone got a participation trophy, the annual Styrofoam cup.  This year, it was the COVID edition.

Before the ride started, I got a picture with Matilda the witch, who always greets us in the staging area.

It was fun to ride with Bill Mondock and local legend Dale Vaughn.  Dale is one of my cycling heroes.  He's almost 76 and still hangs in strong.  Also, he's the world champion in XTERRA in his age group!

There was one rest stop halfway at the Georgia Forestry Commission fire tower - a great opportunity for another photo op with Smokey Bear.  This may be my first photo with him while I'm on my cyclocross bike instead of my road bike.

We had six creek crossings.  I did OK riding through the first two.  The third one looked too daunting, and so I walked across that one.  The fourth creek crossing was the same one where I fell a few weeks ago when Robert and I were riding in the PWR.  I was ready to tackle it this time.  I let Bill and Dale go first.  They rode across successfully.  I followed their same line and got up some momentum as I approached the creek.  (Last time I wasn't going fast enough.)  Then - wham!  I hit a large rock and fell over, getting a bruised hip and swollen knee.  OK, I've learned my lesson!  From now on I'll walk through this crossing.  Fortunately, I was able to keep riding.  The last two creek crossings didn't look bad, but I wasn't taking any chances.  I walked them.

Even with this little mishap, it was a great day.  Bill took this last picture of me.  The advice I've heard is to do more of what you love.  I ride a lot and am grateful to be able to.

Peach Peloton

Yesterday was the first Peach Peloton of the season.  Although I didn't take any pictures, it was a very enjoyable ride.  Most of the usual suspects showed up, and it was great to see teammates Tina and Tony from Warner Robins.

We were surprised by some rain at the start, but it moved through quickly.  That caused some road spray, but it wasn't too bad.  I was mainly glad that it was as warm as it was for November.

The route did a loop to Knoxville, Roberta, Musella, and Culloden.  We did an easy rotation, working on technique more than speed.  After a week of dirt road riding, it was really nice to do some road riding.  I love both types, though, and I'm glad I get to do both.

Coffeeneuring #2 Through #4 - More Getting Dirt Tea

It's been a busy last few weeks.  I've have several great rides since my last post, but I haven't had time to write about them.  So, I'll combine a few here and do another report (hopefully) soon.

Coffeeneuring is intended to be fun and relaxing.  Even though I haven't had as much time as I'd like to write, I've made a point to keep up with coffeeneuring:

Coffeeneuring #2 - Kirkin' o' th' Tartan

My church, Monticello Presbyterian Church, reopened in June (eek), but I've continued only to watch virtual services.  A few weeks ago, however, I went in person because is was outside at Westview Park, and it was a Kirkin' o' th' Tartan, a special service that highlights the Scottish roots of the Presbyterian Church.  As we gathered in the park, it was somewhat reminiscent of the clans of Scotland gathering clandestinely on the moors, called by bagpipes, because England had outlawed Presbyterianism.

Our pastor did a great job of summarizing Presbyterian history from Martin Luther to John Calvin to John Knox to the Scots-Irish Presbyterians in New Caledonia (the American colonies), who played a large role in the American Revolution.  All this was based on Scripture from Romans and Habakkuk.  (Heh heh - how often do you hear a sermon from Habakkuk?  Cool!)

I sat at the back, spreading out a towel and enjoying the lemon zinger herbal tea I had brewed at home and brought with me.

It was so pleasant to sit in the grass, drinking tea and listening to the bagpiper.  The weather was beautiful.

Wearing a tartan scarf and my happy gloves

It was my favorite Kirkin' o' th' Tartan service I've ever been to.  Afterwards, I rode a while longer on dirt roads.

Coffeeneuring #3 - Double Churches

The next week I did another churchy coffeeneuring ride.  Well, isn't that special?

I had Earl Grey tea with first breakfast when I got up.  Usually, I have Irish breakfast tea with breakfast, but that morning it became second breakfast.

What better place to have second breakfast than at Double Churches?

This is one of my regular dirt routes, but I don't know the story behind Double Churches.  The route is a lollipop with Double Churches along the lollipop stick.  As a bonus, I found a U.S. Geological Survey marker when I stashed my thermos in the bushes before I made the loop.  

The marker says that the elevation at this point is 636 feet above sea level.  My bike computer indicated that it was about 671 feet.  I'll go with the U.S.G.S.

After riding the loop, I stopped back by Double Churches to drink my tea before heading home.

Coffeeneuring #4 - Cedar Creek

Yesterday was coffeeneuring ride #4.  Now that the time has changed, I'll be doing dirt rides in the dark after work (with lights on my bicycle, of course).  I left at twilight with  some chai and a slice of banana ginger bread in tow.

Usually, I add half-and-half to my chai, but because it was evening (i.e., adult beverage time), I added Irish cream liqueur this time.  I would have gotten Bailey's Irish cream, but my small-town liquor store only has a knock-off, Ryan's.  (Can't you just imagine the creators: "Hey, what's an Irish sounding name?  Let's call it Ryan's!")  It was tasty nonetheless.

I had made the banana ginger bread over the weekend for Halloween.  It's from my Bats in the Pantry cookbook.  The recipes in this cookbook highlight ingredients that rely on bats for pollination or seed dispersal.  The delicious and aromatic spices in the banana ginger bread - ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves - are perfect for fall.  It's also a great way to use up overripe bananas that have been banished to the freezer.

I stopped at the bridge over Cedar Creek.  Although I ride this road frequently, usually I'm zooming by too fast to look at the creek.  Coffeeneuring was a great excuse to stop and enjoy this tranquil spot.

As a native Georgian, I get cold if it's less than 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and so it's tough for me to transition to the colder temperatures of fall and winter.  (It was 59 degrees when I started yesterday evening.)  Still, there's something special about these dark evening rides during the colder months.  I love being among the crepuscular creatures (deer and rabbits last night).  Especially at twilight, it's magical.