Discombobulate

Discombobulate: upset, confuse.

Our plan for Saturday's ride was to join in the Cartecay Crew's Chili Dawg ride starting from the Big Creek FireStation in Ellijay.


There was a good turnout, so we thought we'd be in good company for the 50 mile option being led by Joe. I should have been highly suspicious when I saw Kevin with that smug grin on his face, like a cat ready to pounce on an unsuspecting mouse. We should have picked up on the biggest "sign" when the majority of the group opted for the shorter route. Hmmmm, usually everyone does the longer route with only a hand full going short. Oh well, let's roll out. We'll do the 50!
And the race began. Number 34 was pushing the lead pack up the Doublehead Gap climb. Wait a minute. This ain't no race. Who's #34 and what's he doing with us?
For a brief moment, I thought I was in France, climbing La Plagne. Markings on the road to cheer on Tour de Georgia riders were as fresh as the day Mike, er uh, someone painted them.
This is my favorite. Where would cycling be without him? I've had the pleasure of meeting him. He's as impressive in person as he is on camera.
Our small group of 50'rs led by Joe consisted of Ursula, Kevin, Mary, #34Mike, me and Raja. Ursula and I raced together in the early 90's, and tried to pinpoint the dates. Enough chit chat, Joe was ready to get on with the show. So we split from the group and began the gravel road climb up Springer. Still in the process of dialing in this new hammer gel flask, Raja alerted me, "you've sprung a leak." I love the concept of being able to access my gel easily. However, you have to be extra careful to make sure you close the mouthpiece completely after each use. Otherwise you get a little fondue party going on during the ride. Oops.
I was happy to take the climb at a leisurely pace with the Kellar's and #34. Knowing you have 50 miles to tackle makes the ride strategy different from a 30 miler. This is always such a beautiful climb, especially in the winter with a clear view through the trees to the mountains. Ice could be seen on a hill "across the holler" and water was dripping down the rocky bankside.

Joe and Ursula had long since disappeared ahead on the climb. I was merely enjoying the distant views. But then the view in front began to take on a new look. An ice show was slowly unvieling before us. At first it was just on the ground. Ah, isn't that neat!

The ground was muddy and sloppy from the freeze thaw effect. Mmmm, mud in my face! Isn't that neat?

Ice was in the trees.
.Ice is falling from the trees!! Aaahhhh! My head! Good thing we had on helmets as we rode through mini ice storms crashing down in bursts. Kinda cool, actually.

And so we rode along the muddy, icy, wet, cold,

beautiful winter wonderland.
However, Raja was not seeing things from my point of view. All he could see was 2 trashed drivetrains that he would have to refurbish. And all he could feel was, well, he couldn't feel his toes. It was cold. I thought it was supposed to be 60 degrees today?At the top of Winding Stair, Raja and I quickly made the executive decision to bag this 50 mile effort. We waved goodbye to the 50 Mile Macho Five, and headed down Noontoola. The insanely 7 mile long descent was even colder than it was a few weeks ago when we did it before James Bigler's ride. The beautiful creek that adds to the magic of this route also adds about negative 20 degrees. This was one time when I did not enjoy going downhill.

Not knowing the route the B Group had taken, we were hoping to hook up with them. But after descending a good ways, it was apparent we were not going to be joining in with any Cartecay riders. However, not all was in vain! Discombobulation was temporarily averted and order was restored to our universe. We came upon a hiker and his dog. It turned out to be an old racing teammate/friend that we had not seen since last summer. It was a real treat to visit with him and his beautiful dog, Merckx.We said our goodbyes to our friend and continued on to the road. My body quickly thawed out once we left the creek and hit the pavement. For once it felt good to be riding on the road with the sun shining on my back (baking the mud fast to my bike).
Mud or gel? Confusing? Just a little discombobulation.
We finished up our 29 mile, 3200' climb Tour de Bobulation just a few minutes before the B Group arrived from their fun ride. A little jealous to hear of the exciting route that Mike led them on, we were glad they had a good ride. With our discombobing behind us, we all congregated in the FireHouse for a delicious meal of Hot Vegetarian Chili (thanks to Terri). MMMmmmmm! Delicious!
No need to put the fire out. All discombobulation for today is over!
Okay, old man winter. You can go Discombobulate somewhere else. I'm ready for spring!

Chili Dawg Fun

This weekend, the weather forecast was for sun and 70 degrees. Raja and I were thrilled with the promise of warmer weather, and eager to join Mike Palmeri for ride #4 of his Chili Dawg Winter Ride Series!


Saturday morning was anything but sunny and warm. We drove in silence through the rain and fog as my mood grew darker by the minute. I don't do rain, especially on a bike. I don't do cold, especially on a bike. We sat in the parking lot debating our fate. If we go home now, no one will know. Oops, too late.

In drive Russell and Sunny. Maybe they didn't see us. Then up comes a big ole pink bike. Well, dang it, Eddie and Namrita must be here. There's no getting out of this now. We're doomed.

I guess I'm just a big ole wuss, because the women were coming out of the woodwork to do this ride, rain or no rain. I began to feel very small and pathetic. Eight of us femmes total!


You could have knocked me over with a feather when a friend from my deep dark past showed up, Brian King. I met his lovely girlfriend, Patty, yet another strong hearty cyclist unaffected by inclement weather. This was shaping up to be a cool group afterall. Glad we stuck around.

Rolling off into the fog was a bit surreal. I enjoyed sitting back and watching
the effect.


Mike had picked out a fabulous route combining the finest in scenic paved roads
and choice gravel forest service roads.
It felt as though you were a million miles away from civilization without a care in the world, lost in Backwoods, USA.

Kevin Kellar and Namrita were the stars of the day on their singlespeeds. I just don't understand. I see 'em do it, don't know how they do it! Crazy kids.


With slightly different gearing, Kevin raced ahead the entire ride keeping a sizeable gap on the rest of us. I know enough not to challenge him, not that I could have. I had my hands full trying to keep up with his wife, Mary. There's alot of talent under the guise of her friendly smile. Get her under the tutelage of a coach and watch out expert women. Better yet, skip the coaching, then we can all ride with her every once in a while. If she keeps hanging with her hubbie though, that's all the coaching she needs. Just look at him.


While Raja was testing out the Trek Demo bike on today's ride, I was just happy to be out. It has been quite a few weeks since we've been on a long ride, and I was afraid my legs would forget how. It's that time of year when we're supposed to be doing long steady rides. Have we? No. Glad to finally get started. It was fun!
Molly and Namrita thought so too.


Mike, Laina, Sunny, Eddie, and Terry all had a good time.


We all had a good ride! Even the stores at our rest stops were in a festive mood.


Yes, we all had fun, but don't get the wrong impression. This was no picnic in the park ride. It was long and some hard work involved getting up some loooooooong hills. We got rained on. Sometimes, you could hardly see through the fog.


Sunny was the only thing sunny for the day!


Just over 4 hours, 46 miles, and 4500' of climbing. That's nothing to sneeze at, thank you. (I got 49 miles thanks to some extra credit "penalty laps"). We were all glad when it was over, and ready to chow down on some chili, thanks to Chef Kevin. Molly brought some killer scones (of which I ate more than my share). We put as much enthusiasm into our chowing down as we did our riding. It was well-deserved!


Thanks Mike for a fantastic Day! Raja and I had a fabulous ride, and we hope to get back for more.

Today I awoke a bit tired from yesterday's jaunt. Raja was fresh as a rose, of course. So we loaded up the bikes and headed for Blankets. He wanted one last test ride on the Trek.

I was hoping for an easy couple of hours with our friend, Robert. Instead, Greg Turner shows up and evens out the score. Oh joy, fastest man on 3 planets along for my easy ride.

We showed Greg some trails that were new to him. I made the mistake of getting on his wheel and chasing him down a long hill. Next thing I know, it's just the 2 of us with no Robert or Raja in sight. We had missed a turn. Great. For the next hour it was just me and Greg. Me, chasing Greg, the fastest man on earth on his singlespeed, no less. My easy 2 hour ride turned into an all out race. But it was still fun!

Now I'm completely 100% trashed and ready for a long winter's nap. The only problem is, it's 75 degrees outside. Makes you want to stay outside all day long! We saw everybody at Blankets; PBC Matt, Clifford, TonyT, MattA, Allen, Claudia, Kate, Robin, and Mike.

All in all a GREAT weekend of good friends and great riding! What more can a girl ask for?


Here are some slideshows of Saturday's ride. I spread the pics out into 3 slideshows.