A Year Better

This same time last year Sean and I rode the Claxton Metric Century. I could line-up my excuses as to why I had not been on the bike; i.e. mono, dissertation defense, moving, new job, etc., but will spare you all the details. It went down on record as one of my worst rides ever that included bonking, pouting, crying, and at complete defeat, drinking a coke and eating a snicker bar on the front sidewalk of a fried chicken joint in the middle of rural Georgia. This year we met 4 Georgia Southern cyclists 5 miles from an intersection on the ride course--of course Sean rode to the ride, but wanted to hitch a ride home in the car. We rolled out around around 8am to sunny skies, cool temps, beautiful fall colors, and lots of cotton. We finished the ride in just over 4 hours, averaged around 19mph for a total of 77 miles. What a difference a year makes! I felt great after the ride, although my legs were certainly not happy with me. Sunday morning Sean went for an easy ride and I put in a 6 mile run, that took everything I had to finish. It was a great weekend to get some long miles in and enjoy the warm weather. We'll stay in the Boro this weekend as well so I can prepare for the end of the semester and pack for our trip to the mountains for holiday.

To Infinity and Beyond

We had a great weekend in Clemson, Greenville, Virginia, and Athens. Luckily, we split up to cover this ground. Sean enjoyed a weekend training session with Jim on power meters. I went with Jen & Terry trick-or-treating with Buzz Light Year. Although he was very excited to get candy, he tired quickly and had little stamina. Jennifer and I pushed him to continue collecting candy, indicating he needed to toughen up...we wanted more candy! Saturday I had a great day riding with the girls in Greenville. The Clemson girls drove up to join the fun and we had a great ride under the fall canapy of colors. It was great to see Caroline back on the bike! We attended the Hincapie Path dedication and got some promo shots for PR pieces. Sunday I ran with Dart and Jen, then headed out to see Molly. She is fully recovered at this point. When I rode her she was very fiesty, a good indication she is feeling better. Monday and Tuesday we were in Athens for a conference. I realized Monday night Sean left my suit at Jennifer's, so I had to make a quick run to Target to find some decent clothes to present in. Luckily, they were open, although I had less than an hour to find an outfit. Design Star here I come! He spent the day Tuesday exploring Athens and taking the dogs to a few parks. The drive home was long and when we stopped for dinner in the little downtown of Swainsboro, we had less than steller service. They didn't even give us a discount for forgetting to put our order in. So, I left a 10% tip and a long note about customer service on the ticket. After I left I realized how old I felt! Ug! We are glad to be home and will have some weekends of relaxation until Thanksgiving break when we head to Boone, NC for a visit with Joy, and then Clemson to house sit.