Fall is Almost Here

And you know what that means-

Well, of course there is less heat, but it also means more races. Starting the end of August I will begin the series of races for the fall that should take me all the way to November ending with the 6 Hour Enduro of the Tidewater Challenge In Williamsburg.

What have I been doing lately you ask? Well, other than working and trying to get in some riding during the week, my room mates from college (Chris and Megan) got married in PA, we had a bash for my cousin Linds who moved to Durham to start her job at Duke Hospital. The party was also for her b/f Matt who moved down and got a job down there as well. I visited some old buds in Blacksburg for a two nights of craziness. And I had some family come in one weekend, and some friends the other. Dont worry though, I've still been getting in the riding and I will be plenty ready for the SM100......I hope.

This past weekend, we all went to Blacksburg for the "Steppin Out" Festival. Arts and Crafts, cool people, food, music, and Blacksburg, had I gotten to ride my bike at the Pandapas pond trails it would have been perfect. Though I got to do that the weekend before, so I suppose that counts. I ended up buying a really cool photograph of a bicylce which the woman said she took in Paris, and the bike was a getaway vehicle for a graffiti artist.....who knew? Its really odd looking, spray painted and has yellow stripes all over it. I thought it would look cool on my wall.

Apparently my blog buddy Ashley was in Blacksburg as well and I totally missed her. Thats a serious bummer cause she is a super cool kid.

Anyways, the biggest news I have for now is that I got a really cool package in the mail today from Cameron Chambers. Just in case, for some reason, you don't know, Cameron is a member of the Gary Fisher professional mountain bike racing team. He basically lives the coolest life ever, traveling all around riding his bike to make a living. He is the 2005 NORBA 24 Hour champion, and a really sick guy. I wrote into the Fisher site to see if I could get an autographed poster and just let them know how much I like the company, and Cameron himself emailed me back and then sent me a box of really cool gear. Socks, a shirt, stickers, front and rear 29" tires, and an autographed poster! He sent two pairs of socks, and so I gave a pair to my brother, who was very jealous......hahaha. Anyways, I thought it was really cool that a pro would take time out of their day to do that for a fan and fellow rider.

This is Cameron coming down the ramp after his first lap at Big Bear

Also, today Lucas and I went over to Bikes Unlimited and he bought a used 90's Trek Mountain-Trek to use as his riding to campus bike to keep the miles of his road bike and his Cake. As usual, I could't get out of there without spending some money, and I ordered a carbon riser bar and new stem for my Sugar. Hopefully that will make for more comfortable long rides and drop a little weight for me.

We did some serious riding on Sunday at Carvin's Cove with Tinnen and Dave. (My bad Tinnen if I spelled your name wrong and you are reading this) I dont have my computer anymore since I destroyed it at Massanutten, but I'd bet we did at least 35 miles. It was awesome, the Sunday long rides are the best. I didn't take my camera, because I didnt want to crash and destroy it. I never ended up crashing so.......I guess I should have taken it.

Next time.

Prolly hittin Candler's tomorrow......."Oh Snap"

Here are the races I plan to do starting in late August:

Southside Scramble (danville) - VA derailer series #2 - Aug 26 (My Dad's Birthday)
Shenandoah Mountain 100 (Insert Joey Lawrence "Woah" here) - Sept 3
Peaksview Park Race (Home field) - VA derailer series #3 - Sept 10
Falling Creek (Bedford) - VA derailer series #4 - Sept 23
**I'm not sure about the Poor Mountain Hill Climb, depends on if it falls on the same date as the Rowdy Dawg race in Blacksburg, and I dont know when that will be yet.
**There are some mountain cross races in here that I will probably do..
Tidewater Challenge 6 Hour Enduro (Williamsburg, VA) - Oct 29




Oh and you know the other thing about fall that rocks??

HOKIE FOOTBALL!!!

Peace,

The Jake