Yargo 6 Hour

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The Dirty Spokes Fort Yargo 6 Hour ruled.

I wanted to camp out last night but ended up doing family stuff until 8:30. Yargo closes at 10:00. With my luck I'd get there at 10:05 and have to drive back home or get a hotel, if there even are hotels in Winder.

No matter. I had work to do anyway. My outside disc brake pad has been dragging. I've no idea why, and I've tried everything. So, I just broke down and filed down the fork mount. No more drag. Hah!

I'd packed up the night before, but at the crack of dawn, the forecast called for rain. My kids would need shelter. I grabbed the pop-up tent and requisite chairs. The kids also needed their camelbacks in case there was no water handy. I usually travel extra light, but not today.



We mowed through breakfast directly. The Waffle House in Cumming is seriously good.



Yargo.



Friends.











I ran into other friends too, but either failed to take a pic, or took a blurry pic.

Mes filles.



The frere came out to provide support and watch my kids. Note the E's bike and gear. Those are custom shoes, dyed to match the custom brake lines. That's pro.



Since Ed brought a tent, I didn't need mine, but since I'd already pulled it out of my truck, I loaned it to the guys next door.

1, 2, 3 go.

Lap 1:

I felt like crap for about 10 minutes. Then I guess I warmed up and started feeling really, really good. Norma and one of her teammates were right in front of me. I'd be lucky to finish with her, so I figured I'd just sit right there. I passed Baldwin walking back with something broken. "Bad luck" I thought, then immediately my right foot started feeling weird.

"My eggbeaters are falling apart."
"No. I don't have eggbeaters any more."
"My cleat is loose!"

In fact, so loose that the bolts wouldn't have lasted the lap. I spent a couple of minutes fixing it and a thousand riders passed me, but it was probably the best decision I made all day. Millhouse was right there so I got on his wheel.

Lap 2:

I still felt really, really good. Me and J rotated back and forth. I ended up riding right through some marking ribbon though and getting it wound around my cassette like 3 times. Genius.

Lap 3:

I pulled away from Millhouse, but started to fade. Then it started raining. No problem, I've been to Rocky Hill Ranch twice. At the end of the lap I felt pretty good again.

Lap 4:

The rain stopped and the trail got slloooowwww. Good lord. My legs were twinging and I started rationing effort so I'd be able to even do a Lap 5. And then out of nowhere Millhouse was back, with a stopwatch. We were 4:45 into the race. No time for Lap 5 and no need to ration. If I'd had a stopwatch, or even paid attention coming through the transition area, I'd have known that already :/ We rode the rest out together and he put the wood right to me in the last hundred yards.

This was the state of things.





Squalid. It took an actual act of god to get clean.

The girls had found an inchworm and named it Flex. Flex is by far the best name for an inchworm. Seriously, you can't come up with a better one. They'd been playing with it for like 2 hours. I love that about them. An inchworm = total satisfaction for 2 hours.



It was like a 4WD trials course getting out of the park. I was at the top of a terraced hill, right by the transition area. I'd driven straight up there that morning, but since then everyone else had filled in below. There were trucks and tents and bikes and grills and all kinds of obstacles everywhere at odd angles to each other. It was challenging, and I did find out exactly how much of a side-slope my truck can traverse, but we got out.

Russell, Duckman and Johnny and who knows who else are still riding right now. Good luck to them. I'm going to bed.