Fifty Plus (50+) - Off to the races (TdG)

I'm on my way to Washington, Ga for the stage 3 start. I'll see the finish in Gainesville later today. Tomorrow is the Team Time Trial at Road Atlanta. I signed up for a charity event which will run for an hour on the Road Atlanta course that the pros will be racing on later in the day. BF 50+er, Donegal and I are planning to meet in Gainesville and at Road Atlanta. I'll be wearing my 50+ jersey in the ride Thursday. :)

Friday I'll be back home for my son's first concert with the Oak Hill MS jazz band.

Saturday it's back on the road early to get up to Brasstown Bald for the "must see" climax of the race. :D My son and I are planning to ride our bikes up that beast again. :eek:

It may sound like a lot of trouble, but I wouldn't miss it for the world. ;)

I'm envious. The more I hear about TdG, the more I think it's a race worth making the trip to go see. I've also been struck by the beauty of spring in Georgia... at least from the views I've seen of the race. Hope you have a grand time.

What instrument does your son play? Mine is a percussionist and I was a trombone and bass player...still am.

Looking forward to some good pics, BD. The race has been pretty exciting so far.
http://www.velonews.com/article/75058/haedo-takes-stage-2-in-georgia

Wish I could join you. Been down a couple times and ridden some of the routes before the Pros came through. Some terrific areas to ride in>

I got some good shots around the team buses in Washington this morning. Eki, Levi, Tom Danielson, Bobby Julich, Dave Z., George Hincapie, Chris Horner, Dave Tohl, Ivan Dominguez, Frankie Andreu and more.

I met Donegal at the finish in Gainesville. We saw the incredibly fast sprint finish and then had a couple of beers at a local pub with a couple of my friends I ran into at the finish. Good times so far and more to come tomorrow as we ride and then watch the course at Road Atlanta. Should be a very exciting day.

Pictures Friday.

Wow! What a day! First the ride on the course was a lot of fun - except for that hill at the start of each lap. The first couple of times was OK, but after that it began to lose its charm. The rest of the course was great.

The venue was perfect for viewing as you could go all around the track and see the race from several different viewpoints. If my pictures are 1/10th as good as I think, you'll be amazed.

BD, it was good to meet you and I agree that ride on the track was a great experience.

About as perfect a spring day as you'll find in N Georgia. I think the pros, except for the climb, stayed in the big ring the entire lap.

Some really high speeds through the esses. The state troopers, acting as lead cars for each team, looked like they were having fun.

Hi Blues Dawg, had a lot of fun at the track today, what a great experience. I intended to ride smart and spend time with folks, but my riding buddy climbs better than I do and I ran my heart rate up to 180 on the second time up the hill chasing him. After that, there was no reason to attempt a sane stable heart rate, I was blown. Once in the pain zone, you live with it. I knew I wasn't going to slow down enough to recover, so I just busted it and had a blast. I got six laps in before we got called off the track and I agree with you about that hill, it was rather extreme. I do better lugging my big as@ down the hills than up them (some problem with gravity). I will remember the day we got to play on the track for some time.

OK, it's Friday. Where are the pictures?

You think this stuff is easy? ;)

Catching my breath at home today and getting ready for the real race up Brasstown Bald tomorrow.
Check out my pictures while I work on some comments. I'll pick out a few to highlight later.

slideshow
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluesdawg/sets/72157604726774755/show/

set
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluesdawg/sets/72157604726774755/

You think this stuff is easy? ;)

Catching my breath at home today and getting ready for the real race up Brasstown Bald tomorrow.
Check out my pictures while I work on some comments. I'll pick out a few to highlight later.

slideshow
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluesdawg/sets/72157604726774755/show/

set
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluesdawg/sets/72157604726774755/

Thank you, Sir. You make a Friday at work a bit more bearable. The line up of bikes in front of the Chipotle-Slipstream bus is an impressive argument that blue is the new white.

OK, here are a few of my favorite shots from stages 3 and 4. See the links above for larger images.

It was great to meet a couple of 50+ forum members at the race. I got a couple of shots of donegal, but the ones I attempted of yamura didn't turn out. He probably flew by me so fast I couldn't aim the camera.:D

My friend Eki…
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3077/2441210924_f27aba9b1b.jpg

Tom Danielson clowning around…
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3211/2440382021_e8d62f989d.jpg

Fast Freddie Rodriguez…
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3290/2441212740_7464a2e01c.jpg

Levi rolls to the start…
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3017/2440383625_44fc4d605b.jpg

a bunch of guys yacking before a day's work…
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3241/2440386597_1f207edda1.jpg

Gainesville finish…
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2257/2440388279_9c3ab14f24.jpg

Ahhh, yes…
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2281/2441219252_03bdb22486.jpg

more...

donegal, OCP?...
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2112/2440389169_7362f02135.jpg

N2A Cure ride underway…
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2009/2441220106_de417168ba.jpg

donegal takes off…
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3194/2440390073_fb2b4a27d7.jpg

This picture doesn't do this hill justice…
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3206/2440391393_5163cbc4a7.jpg

Bissel Pro hits the hill
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3248/2441223310_8c9aef1dea.jpg

and more...

Jittery Joe's climbing through the Esses…
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2371/2440395173_74f2317ea0.jpg

an overview of the spectacle in the pits…
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2242/2440398615_1e68f9a2a3.jpg

Jelly Belly in the chicane…
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3048/2441229830_0df369b8cb.jpg

Team Slipstream charges through a curve…
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2066/2440399331_80fac53a1a.jpg

Dave Zabriskie leads Slipstream…
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2064/2440399859_0f1eabda58.jpg

Astana train…
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3004/2441231198_75fb7f4a69.jpg

Levi in the draft…
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3009/2441232598_88e20f5ba1.jpg

Astana throws the hammer down…
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2220/2440402699_863f3594f4.jpg

the High Road to pain…
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3279/2441234894_4142771129.jpg

Who put this hill here?...
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3114/2441209468_5f9f39f949.jpg

Thanks for the ride BluesDawg, great pictures. I hope they get one of those races over here someday.

Nice. Thanks.

Pretty exciting finish shaping up right now if anyone is watching at wcsn.com.

Cool pics!

Hey BluesDawg, loved the pics. I saved them to a file and want to remember how much fun I had at the track the other day. OCP? NO, OFM, Old Fat Man. I really had a blast with the one you took of me riding, I titled it Hauling As#, Need Two Trips. I told my friend Russell that I was trying to take my two weeks of vacation in one day, ate and drank everything in sight. I had no idea that you were going to get so many good pics with such a small camera.

Hey BluesDawg, loved the pics. I saved them to a file and want to remember how much fun I had at the track the other day.

Did you save the full size images from the Flickr site (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluesdawg/sets/72157604726774755/)?

Oh Yeah, BD. I first saved the thumbnails and then went back and saved the full sized images. Loved them, Thanks.