I didn’t make it to the Iron Butt 100 in Memphis on Sunday and judging from some of the photos I've seen not going was a smart move. I don’t mind a damp trail but shin deep mud is just not my thing.
Since the Iron Butt didn’t happen, I went to help with a local crit on the Ole Miss campus where I worked a section of road for the cat-5, cat-4, and open women’s races. I hung out at the finish line for the cat-1,2,3 race and enjoyed watching the action.
The cat-4 race reminded me just why I gave up road racing this year. I basically don’t miss all the nonsense that some people bring to these events. It can be a bit much. The cat-4 race, for example, was little more than a moving cloud of noise peppered with obscenities, arguing among teammates and adolescent testosterone. The amusing part was watching the largest cat-4 team in the race completely self-destruct by chasing down every break from their own teammates. Give me single-track!
Monday:
Today I decided to get in some long miles on the road bike and set out to do my 244 loop east of town. 
About 10-miles into my ride I encountered this truck spraying goodness knows what on the side of the road. Keeping my distance, I waited for the wind to shift then gave it my best sprint to get around the rolling chemical spill. 
While out on county road 202, I noticed a lot of these flowers on the side of the road and decided to snap a photo of them. I think they’re Black Eyed Susies, but I’m not sure. Let’s hope the chemical truck took a different route.
I snapped this photo on the return leg of my trip because it reminded me of a Cézanne painting. 
When I got back to town, I stopped by the shop to shoot the bull and get some water. The guys were busy building up this Moots YBB 29er. I think there are five or six people in town with Moots bikes now, but I’m the only person with a Moots ZX.
1 comment:
Glad you made a good move and backed out of that race. Great pics. Keep 'em comin'!
From the Yankee Who Doesn't Have As Bad An Accent As the Other Yankees :)
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