Two of my most favorite bike events take place in August, sometimes overlapping each other. Neither of which I have been able to line up for in the past two years and I’m honestly not sure when I will have the chance to get back on the line at either of them. The Breck Epic and TNGA (Trans North Georgia Adventure) are two pretty grueling events that while very different each hold a kind of “special” place for me. Both of these are long events though and require or want a level of training that I just don’t really have the time for at the moment. The interesting part is that I don’t really know when I’m going to have that time.
The Breck Epic and TNGA both represent breakthrough’s in my cycling adventure. TNGA and while it deserves its own post, the long and short of it is that in completing the first time I finished something I wasn’t completely sure I could do when I started. I went back the following year and did it 14 hours faster in about 57 hours pushing myself in ways I didn’t know feasible yet still leaving with a smile (and an amazingly raw backside). This event was one that helped me realize my love for pushing myself on my bike beyond what I even thought I could do. Before taking the training for this on my longest ride had been about 57 miles.
A year or two later I got the idea to try stage racing and decided the Breck Epic would be my introduction. After a great first day, managing to sneak onto the podium as the 2nd place singlespeed, I had a very humbling day 2. I gave back an extraordinary amount of time and destroyed my feet in the process (on day 2 of a 6 day race). However I was able to right the ship and have a pretty good shot at the overall podium in a strong field of riders while dealing with some truly epic blisters/foot issues. In this case I also managed to have an amazing amount of fun.
Both of these have been experiences that I’ll likely never really re-create but will definitely make it back to both events at some point. Trying to re-create those initial experiences wouldn’t be the point of going back though so it’s ok. When I make it back to these events one day, maybe I’ll have different goals or expectations.
NOW
In the few short weeks after ORAMM I have had a hard time getting out to ride with much purpose. I don’t have another event scheduled even though I’d really like to make Monstercross and/or Dirt Diggler work somehow I just haven’t been able to make bikes a high priority. There’s only so much time in a day and when you look at Family, work, house, friends, and bikes it’s always a balance. The past few weeks family, work, and house have really been keeping my attention. This has been the summer of major house projects. Some of them we’re really excited about while others were mostly maintenance and its time. We’re almost done and man is that exciting. We also had a pretty amazing Saturday out for a short hike, Pizza, and treats over in Cashiers, so things are good.
With that said I’ve still ridden a good bit, just not with the same purpose that I normally do. I did manage to ride with friends 3 on occasions this week which is something I normally don’t prioritize nearly enough. All 3 rides were different but really good as well. I’m re-learning what I already knew but sometimes forget. Riding with others is a lot of fun, It can also be a really good learning experience to get out and ride with folks who do some things better than you.
