After our trip, there was much to be done. We were back to work catching up on hours lost while on vacation. The garden was a mess. We lost many pepper plants while we were on the trip due to a massive storm that dumped over four inches of rain in a matter of a few hours. Many of the hot pepper plants we put in the ground before leaving were washed away. The ones that had enough roots to hold on got covered in mud washed from other parts of the garden. We lost about 80% of our Ghost and Scorpion plants, which are our main money-making plants. My Mom worked hard to replant some of the ones she found washed out into our yard, but most of them didn't survive. Thankfully, the rest of the garden had minimal damage and our Carolina Reaper peppers nearly all survived. Weeds had taken over during the time away with the plentiful rainfall, so I had a lot of sweating to do to get control again. We harvested our first real kohlrabi and sunflowers the week we returned. Kohlrabi look like alien plants, but actually taste pretty good.
Kohlrabi from the garden.
These small sunflowers combined with tiger lilies made a great kitchen table display that Shannon really enoyed.
Shannon has been busy making her popular pickles.
Finished pickles
Tasty strawberry jam.
On one of my first rides back I saw something shining on the bank of a creek as I passed over the bridge. I stopped for a closer look and it was a softshell turtle. I saw one near our house once when I was a kid. Everyone I told about it said I was crazy and that softshells don't live in Tennessee, but I knew what I saw. It took 20+ years, but finally I had proof!
Softshell turtle
A swollen Sulphur Creek after recent heavy rains.
After a few rides I was feeling stronger, maybe even better than I did before the trip. Shannon and I did a few rides on the tandem, even doing a hilly loop one day and putting Dina into the hurt box on the climbs. Dina has continued to drop weight and get faster, but she has felt like her fitness is inconsistent. I feel she is gradually improving, but she doesn't feel like it is going as well as it appears.
Dina and I got back to racing the first weekend in July at the SERC finals in Helen, GA. We couldn't decide if we would go to Helen this year or not with it being close to July 4 and places to stay being hard to come by in that area this time of year, but I was feeling good and ready to do some racing. We did manage to find a great place to stay at a great price so the trip was on.
We headed towards north Georgia on Saturday morning, cruising through Ocoee on the way. We stopped for a few minutes to watch the rafts come down the river and took in a few mountain views while we stretched our legs. We saw a person fall out of a raft and got to see a guide from another boat pull her out of the water. It looked like a tough grab-and-lift into the boat with the water moving so swiftly.
Rafts coming down the Ocoee River
Boyd Gap Overlook
It rained in Helen most of Saturday morning, so we skipped the short track event that afternoon. We spectated for the wet race that took place on a new course. This course featured much more trail in the woods. The trail was wide and far from singletrack, but it looked much more fun than riding around a grassy hillside like we have done previously here at Unicoi State Park. There was a flat section in the open grass to start the loop, then the course started to climb as soon as it turned left out of the field and entered the woods. The double-track climb was long and got steeper near the top before a fast descent with a few fast turns took riders back to the field to start another lap. It was a heart-pounder for sure. The racing was good and we had a good time watching everyone race before heading out for a ride on our own.
White Wave race underway in the SERC Series Short Track.
White Wave race winner
Yellow Wave start
The course was also changed for the XC this year, so we went ahead with a pre-ride just to familiarize ourselves with the changes. The first half of the course was the same. The changes came near the end with us cutting off the longest climb on the loop and then adding a flatter section along the creek, plus a loop on the new short track course at the end of the lap. The trail was a bit wet, but not too muddy other than a few puddles at the bottoms of the hills.
Dina splashing a puddle during our pre-ride at Unicoi.
Dina passes by a large Appalachian mushroom.
We had a nice relaxing night watching an exciting NASCAR race at Daytona on TV as we prepped for the next day's race. Sunday was a beautiful day. It was sunny and cooler, in the low-70s when we started. The loop was a bit shorter than expected, so we were notified at registration that the Elite race would be changed to four laps instead of three, which I was excited to hear. I did the absolute minimal warm-up to save my legs a little as I know this race is always a war of attrition. Many will fade, several will quit. You have to have something left on the final lap if you want to stand on the podium in Helen. Four laps would be a long way. I changed my feeding plan and started with a bigger bottle in order to have enough water to get me through the long race using one feed pole that I would have today without Shannon there to feed me.
On the start line, the distance was changed back to three laps. I regretted holding back in my warm-up, especially since there is a big climb on the start here, but what do you do? I planned with the information I had been given. We had a big group in the combined Elite field with all Pro and Cat. 1 riders starting together. The start line was full of 22 riders. The start was fast and I had to hold back or risk blowing up on the first climb. I was next to last going into the woods, but stayed with the group up the first climb despite holding myself back a lot.
Elite group on the start line at the SERC finals in Helen, GA.
photo by GoneRiding.com
I stayed in the line over the next climb, then began to move up on the third climb of the lap as the group began to split up. I had picked up four spots and caught a few more riders on the next descent. Then I had a front flat. I tried for a quick change, but the nut on my stem refused to loosen. I fought with it for a couple of minutes before realizing it wasn't going to happen. The tire was half off the rim with minimal sealant left. It was not likely to seal up with an air cartridge, but I tried anyway just to get out to the car. I put in a full cartridge and somehow got the tire seated and sealed. I left extra air in it anticipating some leaking, but I don't think it lost any air the rest of the race. I had lost almost four minutes by the time I got going again, then felt like trash for several miles. The legs don't like those sudden stops when you are riding hard.
I started to feel better on lap 2 and joined a group of Cat. 1 Junior riders that were having a heck of a battle on the climbs. They made me work on the hills. I still feel like I am climbing like a slug this year. I had good legs though and knocked off a good lap, eventually passing the Juniors as they started to fade on lap 3. I faded too, slowing down almost two minutes that last lap. I picked up three spots before the finish, ending the day in 19th in Elite. Not what I wanted, but flats happen every now and then. I'm not climbing anywhere close to good enough to be fighting for a win on a course like this anyway.
Dina had a bit of a rough day too, feeling really drained the second half of the race and just trying to get to the finish. She ended up 5th in the Cat. 2 Women.
Dina after the race
Photo by Sarah Moore
We wanted to do something fun on the way home to kind of redeem our day. Dina had never been to Tallulah Gorge State Park, so we drove there after the race and did some hiking. We went all the way down to the gorge floor and felt every stair back out of there on our tired legs! It hurt just as much as my first visit a few years ago while Shannon and I were on vacation. It was too nice of a day to miss outside fun no matter how much the legs burned.
Map of Tallulah Gorge from the Jane Hurt Yarn Interpretive Center
The suspension bridge over the gorge way down below us as we hike on the north rim.
L'Eau d'Or Falls
Hurricane Falls from the suspension bridge
Hurricane Falls
Video: Clip of Hurricane Falls
Lizard
View from the south rim with Hurricane Falls below and the Jane Hurt Yarn Interpretive Center to the right on the north rim.
Shady resting place
Tallulah Falls Dam
We again stopped for a leg stretcher in Ocoee, this time driving up Chilhowee Mountain for some overlooks Dina had never been to before.
Chilhowee Overlook
I tried to do a long road ride two days after the Helen race, which was not my smartest decision. It was a hot day and I could tell after about an hour that I was in trouble. I was thirsty and drinking extra water. I met up with the local group ride and had the chills several times during the ride...on a 90 degree day. I was clearly not rehydrated from the weekend. I bailed away from the group early to cut the ride short, but it still made for a long day at just under four hours of pedal time in the heat. I ran out of water, but thankfully my Dad decided to ride out to meet me for the ride home and he had an extra water bottle with him.
I took two days off to rest and focus on my hydration as we had a DINO Series race coming on the weekend. I knew I would be working outside a lot all week so hydration would be a challenge even with time off the bike. More on the DINO race from Potato Creek State Park in the next post.
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