Excitement Abounds!

There's a buzz in the air in our household tonight as we've heard the latest update on Jeff's Race in the Marathon des Sables! Not that it surprises me at all, but he has surpassed his goals and expectations the entire race. I squealed with delight when I read Becky's email today. I can almost hear her shouting for joy as she told us..."We just found out today that Jeff led the main pack (non-elites) on the long (47-miler) day! That means he had to do some route-finding too and had the helicopters flying over tracking him... can't believe he's in the top 50 now." Isn't that exciting! I love this picture of Jeff from the race website, that's our boy!!:)

There are details on how the excitement has been unfolding on Jeff's Race Blog and also on their Hillseekers Blog. I can't begin to imagine the feelings that are racing through both Jeff and Becky's veins right now. What an amazing experience this has been for them. One thing I can say though is give me Lisa Smith-Batchen's number. She has been Jeff's coach for this endeavor. His performance speaks volumes about her!!!

The race energy must have been spilling all the way over to Georgia, because last night we had a most excellent ride!What an amazingly fun and challenging trail this is. You can see more pictures of this great playground here.My legs were pretty trashed from my effort at the crit the night before, but it was too nice of an afternoon to pass up riding. I abandoned my usual Wednesday riding partner, the Caminator, and chose instead to play in the dirt.
At first it was slow going, but I still enjoyed riding the singletrack. I don't enjoy riding the road when I'm tired and wasted. I can always have fun on my mountain bike even if I am feeling lame.After an hour, things started kicking in and I was ready to get down to business. Chasing Kaptain Kleen around on his singlespeed is a dirty job, and I was loving it! Kaptain Kleen cleaned everything on his Surly, a very impressive feat!
Excitement was in the air! Everyone we knew was there...Flatfender, Scubacruz, Gary, Shane, Robin, Gregg, Jungle Boy, Chris, rlaz, Cerar...it was like a big celebration!See, everybody is excited for my Highly Motivated Mission Possible friend! Jeff, we're so very proud of you! You are conquering this Mission Possible like a true champion!