september 17, 2006

what a difference this past year has been. this time last year i did the ms hops to hops tour and it was hell! my legs shut down with 10 miles left and it was just painfull. this year though i plowed through it. after a slow start the hill came and i could fell the difference right there. all the riding on zion, longhill, and those roads here pays off. my ability to spin up the hill then change to standing with out burning up was extremly noticable.

i rode solo for the first 10 miles then hooked up with another rider that was riding with other people for the first time. after chatting and riding along with him we caught up to another rider who knew who i was! he recognized me from century road club and so we all road togehter. we lost the first guy at a rest stop where we refilled our water.

no tour ride would be complete for me without getting a flat or getting lost. so i got lost this time :) took off 5 miles off course with mike(the century road club member). eventually we got back on track and we realized how many people we were in front of before hand! we spun through and finished 3rd and 4th in the entire tour! it wasnt a competition but wow! there were over 100 people there.

after hanging out for a while to drink some beer :) i got mikes number so we could ride again. he rides in the winter which is exactly the kind of rider ive been needing to meet.