Sweat n Spin

Dark Winter evenings call for a Spin Class....

I had no freaking idea what I was going into, but thought for sure I would be able to wiz through a simple spin class....WRONG! Don't think I have sweated so much...nor gotten my butt kicked by a virtual hill....each person to their own level...but yea it was well worth it and will be back again.

Great job Alan and thanks.

Alafia Fat Tire Fest

Mtn bike at Alafia:
Afternoon ride was intense,
night ride was insane!
Bumps and bruises,
need Jagger for the pain.

Who ever laughed when I said I was going mountain biking in Florida has not been to Alafia State Park. It was incredible, and I have the broken ribs to prove it.

Alafia was an open phosphate mine that has been reclaimed with palm, pine, and oak trees, and swamps, with over 14 miles of sand and clay trails.

On Friday Nov 10th, I join 280 riders for their 6 annual three day Fat Tire Festival…and of course they welcomed me with hesitant but open arms. The Swamp Club had reserved the entire park for the weekend, provided extra showers, gourmet meals, cold beer, live music, and an opportunity to go out and smash your body against the ground.

Previously, I had never thought of what it meant to ride beyond my ability, that was before Alafia. Screaming down 25 foot drops and up the other side was bad enough, but then go out and do it in the dark! Totally amazing.

I arrived Friday afternoon and joined my new neighbor Denell and Sharon on a 1 hour tour of the park. With trail names like “Whoopied Whoop”, “Bridges”, and “Rollercoaster” very little description is necessary. That evening I joined 15 riders equipped with some of the most intense portable lighting to ride out into the night. I heard Connie, John and Beth say that night riding greatly improves your skill because you can’t see the hazards and instead ride on through them….I guess I was looking too closely. But managed to make it back out of the woods with only a skinned shin.

Saturday morning I signed up for the B group and was the first to managed to do an “endo” into a tree, crushing my ribs into the handle bars. The rides were organized so that all traffic flowed one way down the trails. The afternoon we rode over to Boyett a couple miles away were we rode trails called “The Abyss”, “Lock Nest”, and “Gator Pit”. That day we rode about 7 hours and 30 miles. There just aren’t words to describe it.

Once back at camp we got ready for the Clunker Crit, where about 20 of us dressed up and did a race around the park. To mix it up a little, at one point we had to jump off an swap bikes, change direction, and try to pop each others balloons. While I didn’t win…I did draw attention! I think the competition will be even stronger next year.

Later that evening we were treated to a gourmet porkchop dinner including shrimp cocktails and banana flambe before moving over to the band and the beer. It was an Ibuprofen kind of evening.

A special thanks to Wes and Marty and all the members of the Swamp Club, for hosting such a great event. I will be back.

SBR 140.6

Swim Bike Run 140.6 miles

The day was increditable,
and so much fun,
2200 athletes,
doing swim, bike, n run.
Made signup for I 2007!

Ironman Florida 2006
With a week of vacation tagged as “use it or loose it”, I laid out a week long road trip to Florida, incorporating friends, family, and bike riding. The start of my trip was to Panama Beach to meet up with Dee Davis others from Nashville I met on the MS150: Jack-n-Back ride. 30 members from gNAC athletic club were going to participate in the 8th Florida Ironman. I was going to witness and cheer.

Arriving Friday evening, the night before the race, the beachfront had an eerie feeling of high intensity but amazing calm. Days earlier, athletes and spectators had begun to arrive to check in their bikes and cloths, and check out the course. With over 2200 athletes participating, the logistics of the transitions from swim to bike and bike to run are not trivial. With that done, Friday night was early bedtime for the participant.

This left the night for Crazy Ashley, Richard, Peter, and other non-participants to made our way to a local Oyster Bar where we pounded down oysters and beers for the evening.

The morning of the race started early, many getting up at 4:00am to begin getting ready. I caught up with the gNAC group on the 17 floor of the Boardwalk Towers. The room was full of muscle busting, adrenalin filled wet suits prepared for the long grueling day.

Having never seen a mass start on the swim, I was awed with how the water churned. The swim course was two laps with a dash onto the beach across the timer matte to provide all the Blackberry geeks with realtime splits of every athletes. At the farthest point, the swimmers look like nothing more than a bunch of seagulls on the water.

Finding a spot along the path from the beach we provided raging cheers to the athletes they ran past to the change tents. Dee had an excellent time of 1:12.

With the cyclists on their 112 mile trek, we headed out to meet them at the 80 mile mark where it is said the real race begins. There out on a lonely stretch of the road, we setup posters, chalked the road, and cheered each rider as they passed. The expression and reaction to the cheers were heart felt gratification.

Back at the Ironman Village, the runners were completing the final leg of the 26.4 mile marathon. The gNAC support team was again pumped spirit into the runners. But as night fell, the runners had to navigate the course in the dark.

At about 10:00pm, Ashley and I ventured out onto the course on our bikes looking for Dee. I found her with about 7 miles to go. Still slugging her way though the dark, the spirit kept driving that which the body could not do. As we passed the aid stations, we got the volunteers to sing her Happy Birthday. This charged her spirits and to travel on.

As we approached the Village, the lights and cheers began to pump her up again and with reserve energy that not even Dee knew she possessed. At 16 hrs 20 minutes, she charged up the final hill to the Village and ran across the finish line to claiming her success on her 40th birthday.

Surrounded by her friends, Dee successed.

With a day of my own spiritual high and adrenalin…..I was inline first thing Sunday morning to mark my place for next year’s challenge. The 2200 opening filled within an hour.

Ironman

Made it down to Panama Beach
a cooler of cold ones
just within reach
Setting up camp n all is great
jazzed 'bout tomorrow can't wait.

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