Okay on a serious note, seems our leader has suffer a potentially serious injury riding a jetski. Yep, he didn't know what he was doing, yes he had a few dozen beers but so what--it's why he is our leader!! Hopefully it is not as bad as suspected but it does not sound good. The WRFB team will struggle without him so let's all hope for the best. Doc sees him on Thursday. He has whipped his ass into great shape and it would be a shame for him to be out of commission for a while.
If worst case happens and the biermeister can't pedal, I feel certain we can find other useful things for him to do to support the team. One would be to give his start number for BS&G to little brother Phillip (more on him later). Phillip found it convenient to register late so as to not get a start number for the 100 miler. He could also drive a personal sag wagon around the course and provide us with some really good drugs, especially at Snake Mountain. He could also sag for the team on the beach ride, ice down all the beer in advance, make dinner reservations etc.. he'd be a natural!! But mainly he's our leader and we need him even if he's gimpy.
Now a quick note about brother Phil and I's ride on Monday. As Phil posted, we rode the Assault on Mt Mitchell / Marion on Monday. Our assault was to Marion for two reasons, one; we registered late and Mitchell was full and two; we're not stupid!! Big, well run ride with lots of riders and great community support. It is really nice to ride a 75 mile course where all intersections were controlled by local law enforcement and car traffic going in our direction was non existent. So we started in the front third of the field but had to fight for position over the first 5 miles, lots of hard efforts before settling in with a group of 80 or so riders. First 35 miles were easy as far as pace and terrain goes but overall it was a very nervous group, lot's of near misses, a few crashes and constant braking for no reason. At 35 miles the course became lumpy and this is where it became evident that Phillip was having a good day. There were two good hills preceding the the first "big " climb of the day. Phillip and I found ourselves at the front over the second one and off we went. There was several miles along a nice valley before a right turn to climb Bill's Mountain. This climb is maybe two miles but not all that bad. It did however allow alot of the previously dropped riders to catch and pass us both, a fact that did not sit well with Phillip. We made our only scheduled stop of the day at the rest station on top and set off to recapture our track position. Unfortunately, I had a flat within a couple of miles costing us more time and track position. This was the time in our ride (about 50 miles) that something happened to Phillip. He stood there while we changed my tire and as he watched all these riders stream by, his eyes narrowed, he started snorting & pawing the ground like a wild animal and I knew I was in trouble! Back on the road he took off like he was shot out of a cannon. For 25 miles he pulled his guts out on the flats, bombed the descents and climbed like a pro. He reeled in everybody he saw and I was hanging on for dear life! Finally at mile 73, as we approached a steep hill that was no more that a half mile long, he moved to the left side of the road and ripped a final violent attack so vicious that I exploded like the JeagerBomb I consumed late the night before!!
He waited for me at the top, being the good guy he is, and we were done. After a quick change and a bite to eat and we drove to Spartanburg for a couple of beers at the Wild Wing Cafe and a return trip home. It was a great trip and one the entire team should put on the calendar for next year.
Be warned though--these Welch boys are not like the rest of us! This ain't your average cycling team!
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