Duck on Bike

This one's for Jdub...

Windy Night at the Worlds

There was a nice turnout of 15-20 riders for a blustery Tuesday at the Worlds. We had a contingent from the new local team Battlefield Velo proudly displaying their new, hot off the press, team jerseys. I see potential for team work heating up the sprint and hump points competition. Lumpy was riding in shorts trying to show off his secret AZ training tan but his goose bumps were too big. We had a special guest appearance by Bronson sporting his Dr. Suess striped wool jersey. Poor Ray Train has yet to join us, get better soon!

Now on to our featured rider...

This week it's T-man. He really rides for Antietam Velo Club . This is his retro NCVC kit. T-man is a Pisces and loves the color blue. He thinks he was a poodle in a former life. His favorite song from the 70's is American Pie by Don McLean. We can't close this out without a picture of his new ride a Giant TCR~just over 16lbs. Until next time....

Riding with Bellie

I had no idea how many people would actually be able to ride their bikes on Easter Sunday when I sent the invite out on Fri. We had a nice group of 10-12 show up and a few new faces. Ilana Iguana brought her friend John from the U.K. (love the accent) to show him some of our countryside. A real bonus today was the addition of speedsters Bellie and her man, Brad.

Bellie at the top of High Rock

I suspect Bellie is a great poker player. She was flying up the hills picking off riders left and right while claiming to be very concerned about whether or not she could even finish the ride. Love that stuff! We will be racing together this year for HPC powered by Altarum and I am so looking forward to it. Great job today.

Despite a few agressive driver incidents (can you believe it~on Easter Sunday!), and getting reprimanded at the military booth on the 1mi. bonus climb at the top of High Rock we had a great 4.5 hrs on the bike this beautiful day.

Poor Sheby...

Shelby was limping around yesterday like her normal drama queen self after being reprimanded for going off on an unauthorized adventure. The limp lingered a little too long. After closer examination, she had a huge thorn stuck in the pad of her left rear paw. I extracted the thorn and a huge amount of bloody, goopy, nastiness came shooting out. Extremely disgusting.

Dr. Kelley to the rescue with an antibacterial ointment and bandages.

We chased the other pups around in the golf cart

She must be hurting because she just licked the bandage.

Country Punkin Fun - Part II

It was a good Friday. Weather conditions were calm and the sun was setting when Neighbor Steve called and said "It's time". I knew exactly what he meant.

Time to open this baby up

Gross... but not as bad as I thought for a 6mo. old pumpkin

Neighbor Steve starting the prep work

Safety first! Check out the protective eyeware

Perfect position

All systems go... Run Steve Run!!


Success!

Jinx gets Bling!

Check out Jinx's new choker collar - we told her it was real silver

It was an awesome day to hike


Sheby sleeping post hike, sporting her new "salmon" collar - she's too young for bling

Riding and Food...Finally!

The Kelley Acres rides are winding down as the racing season approaches. We never know who is going to show up this time of year. Most of the out of town regulars were out testing their legs at an early season race.

This is SuperFly who has been missing in action. May be he is doing secret training with Ti Don.

It was great day to ride with tolerable temperatures and managable winds for a change. We had about 15 people and I got to spend some time catching up with my team mate and friend Kristy.

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After a little siesta we ventured out of the country to meet some friends for dinner in Leesburg. On a recommendation from PhilBilly we went to Tuscarora Mill.

We enjoyed a Dale's Pale Ale while we were waiting for our friends.

I totally forgot to take more pictures after this! All of us ordered the filet special and it was PERFECT! We highly recommend this place. Read the link above for the fantastic menu and the service was top notch. I guess we are back to our old veggie dinners for a few more weeks.....

Tuesday Night Worlds

Hello sports fans and blog stalkers, last night was the beginning of our Tuesday Night Worlds. I know they are probably in every town, but our group adds alot of character to this blessed event. For those of you reading that aren't cyclists, what happens is a bunch of people show up at a local elementary school with their bicycles and roll out for a few hours with the goal of trying to rip each other's legs off. There is a so called warm up lap that usually ends up with someone riding off the front and then looking back casually to make sure they got everyone's attention. It's o.k. though they end up paying for it later. This ride is basically the opposite of the Kelley Acres ride with alot of anaerobic activity and no conversation. Serious stuff!

Just to add a little flavor to our unique group, I've decided to post a featured rider each week.

This week's featured rider is Lumpy. He's a Gemini, drives a Prius, loves his Members Only rain jacket, and carries a level (see above) with him for emergency bike fits. Lumpy excels at descending and going really fast at the end of races when it matters. I wonder what else is in Lumpy's trunk.

This is the cool down lap in the parking lot

All for now...

The Wind Tunnel

With the time change this weekend the Kelley Acres ride moved a little later to 10a.m. I was a little scared when I woke up to the temperature at 25deg. and the winds blowing 20-30mph.

At 9:45a.m. no one had arrived for the ride and I was getting a little excited. I'm excited because I may be going on a hike instead. Then at 9:46 a.m. 3 cars roll down the driveway w/ bikes on top. Then 2 by 2 the cars kept rolling in. All of 16 people show up. Are these crazy people? No they are just my crazy riding friends. And they want to ride. I HAVE to ride.

Compare the flag to last week

Shawn (left) in his "go to" winter gear. Racing Chef is ready to roll.

Chicken had the only mechanical of the day. Check out Goat in her hot new Kitty Kit.

Paul manage to eat one of his three Egg McMuffins while we waited.
Goat shows off the back of her Kitty Kit.

Post ride Mac and Cheese prepared by Chef Kelley

Lots of lounging and post ride recovery

Paul, Ray, Steve, Brian, and Bill getting warm

Watch your camera when Chicken is around

It was a fantastic ride that I would have never done had I not been motivated by the great turn out of friends. We ended up climbing about 5000ft in 3.5hrs. Racing season starts soon so look for some more posts on Tuesday Night Worlds and Weekend Races. And I know you want to know Ti Don did not show.

All for now....

Project Du Jour and a Real Dinner!

For the car enthusiasts...

This is Fred's buddy Ben hanging out in the barn working on his very cool car. It's an '02 Mustang Mach 1 supercharged 600hp w/ road racing suspension completely modified by Brooks Performance.They installed some new wheel studs and rotors and pads to get ready for track racing season.

We "beefed" up the diet a little Sat. night. Chef Kelley layed out this delicious plate with his signature grilled salmon, steamed aspargus, and rice. Quite a treat from the all veggie dinners.

Shelby

This is how Sheby likes to cruise

We took our pups, Shelby and Jinx on a hike to Annapolis Rocks Friday before the horrible weather started.

Country Punkin Fun - Part I

This is my pumpkin I stole off my parents porch last November. It's held up pretty well over the winter.

This is "Neighbor Steve"(he looks like a doctor with those fancy ear plugs)

This is Neighbor Steve and the Pumpkin~really looks like a doctor with the blue gloves

Neighbor Steve has been working on this project in our barn for a very long time

This is Neighbor Steve's Truck

We are working on the "Pumpkin Project" AND I am a little bit of a pyrow (I spelled it that way because I just start blogging and I am afraid some crazy might get on the blog because I spelled it correctly). Anywho, Stay tuned for more on the "Pumpkin Project"...

New Racing Team

An opportunity came my way in the last week to race with a group of women that I have been friends with but we never had a chance to race together on the same team, until now.

This is very exciting yet difficult because I had a tons of fun racing with Team Kenda Tire last year. Janelle, Marni, and I had a blast especially in the 40+ races this year. We had a great chemistry that I will miss. All my former teammates have been fantastic and are very supportive of my decision to change. We will still see alot of each other only in different jerseys.

Now on to the new stuff. The team I'll be racing for is HPC Powered by Altarum.

Check out this cool piece of clothing Kate brought me yesterday.

A few of us went to the Tradezone Training Race in Upper Marlboro today. What a blast! It was great to get the legs turning at a higher speed than the Kelley Acres Rides. Susan set the tone for the season today by first racing the women's race, then the "B" race and THEN the "A" race which she almost finished but got hungry or something silly like that. When you have a team director that lays it out like that it only brings everyone else to a new level. We are all very excited about this year.
Check back later for more on the HPC Powered by Altarum girls.

Just another Kelley Acres ride...

We rolled out for another ride this bright and sunny morning but the cold and wind were the challenge of the day. We stopped on Main Street in Boonsboro, MD to check out the scene of a huge fire last week. The property is owned by best selling author, Nora Roberts . She and her husband were renovating the former inn as a bed and breakfast.

All that remained was barely a shell of the outside walls. Below you can see that the fire melted the siding on the property across the street. This is Heidi's friend George checking out Kate's new bike (we think)

And this is Heidi...

Once again this guy shows up to ride looking like Ti Don. Same outfit as last week on the Wheelbase Bike Shop ride, face all covered up, non descript clothing. After about the 3rd of our 4 hour ride we stopped at Sheetz, this guy rips off his head gear and ran in, grabs this delicious Hostess Fruit Pie. (450calories, 40g fat) ...it appears to be apple. The kicker of this, it IS Ti Don. He IS back. He couldn't keep his face hidden any longer.

Ti Don

Once he realized his cover was blown the "whining" began. "I'm so tired", "I blowing up", "How much longer", "Which ridge are we climbing to get back?" Watch out people...He's back!!

It turned out to be a pretty nice day despite the early morning elements. Chef Kelley had the crock pot full of chili ready for our return.

Get well soon Lumpy!!