2 new espresso shops in Tucson this year. Soy macchiato from Caffé Lucé. I'll try Espresso Art tomorrow.

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Spot on soy macchiato, at The Pearl Cup in Dallas, Texas. This is how it should always look. Double 1 ounce shots, "marked" with soy foam, 3 ounces total for the drink.

I have to admit, I was totally cracked on this trip today. I've been using up all my recovery days for travel; days that are normally reserved for catching up on work. It makes for a level of stress and panic that causes me to want to just drive home and pack it all in. From here I spend three or four days in the car driving to Tucson on my rest week. When do I get ahead? I almost shut it down.

Instead, I managed to get the car loaded, get driving, and get to Johnson City just as the snow started coming down here. Maybe it's in honor of the snow in Tabor, but the show is definitely going on tomorrow. Instead of 6 hours in the sunshine in Tucson, I'll be doing an hour each day at full gas in the snow in Tennessee. And I'm ok with that.

What eased my stress was rolling up to my host housing and finding a welcoming host in Mike Seek, who had a vegetarian lasagna in the works and a gigantic house to show me around.

It's all gonna be all right.

I just keep a tab open at all times now with this clip ready. I've been watching it at least once/day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PQ6335puOc 

So there you go. Try not to forget what's best in life, ok?

Thanks to Szczepanski for the original link.

Oh, right, the blog. Duh.

I'm in Athens, GA finally this morning, and it feels good. There are a couple of cities I'm in love with, and Athens is one of them. Some people have a girl in every town. For me, every town is a girl, and I have a lot of love to give.

BUT FIRST...

When I left you last I was on my way from Savannah to Samsula. Passing into Florida for the last stretch of my drive south, it was striking to me how much the country changes. Once you break free of the Boston-Washington megalopolis (which really should be extended to Portland and Richmond now) you feel the whole country open up to you in a tangible way. The landscape widens, there's less traffic, you drive faster, and all of a sudden you're on the road. Oh, and there's NASCAR, too.

When I left Savannah on Friday I went straight to the race venue in Samsula, for the GG Events 'Cross Classic. The format was a 3-day stage race, with a Friday night 1-lap time trial, a Saturday night grass crit, and a Sunday standard 'cross race. I knew from talking to the organizers Nathan, Shannon, and Paula, that the venue was at a bar near Daytona. A biker bar, in fact. And when I rolled up, I was not disappointed.

Yes. That is a chicken. Actually it may be a rooster.

Nathan was there when I showed up, put me in the John Deere, and took me on a tour of the course. While I was prepared for anything, it actually was set up pretty nicely. They had an unlimited supply of barrels they used instead of stakes (or CONES, PDX! Quit it with the cones!) and the course was fully taped off. You can't really keep flocks of chickens off the course with tape, but it was manageable still. The course had pretty much every feature you'd want. 

Dirt:

Sand:

Grass:

Open field:

Coleslaw wrestling sand pit:

Wait, what? Coleslaw wrestling sand pit? Turns out this wasn't just any biker bar. This was the legendary Cabbage Patch, famous for it's coleslaw wrestling during Daytona Bike Week. You know, if you're into that kind of thing. Those coleslaw wrestling photos are not all safe for work, depending on what you do for work, so click accordingly.

The racing itself was low-key, and a lot of fun. I didn't know how I'd be feeling after 2 weeks completely off the bike and a week or so of easy hour rides. I was worried there'd be a couple of fit local dudes about to start their season who'd rip my legs off. Luckily it was more manageable than that. I went full gas for the 2-minute long TT, but was able to ride tempo in the crit and 'cross race, and attack near the finish to win. The laps were short but the fields were small, so it was nice for the spectators to get to see us every couple of minutes.

And of course, it was nice to win.

Later, I wrestled the podium girl in the coleslaw pit.

No, not really. But we did venture into the bar. I don't quite know how the sound of a needle scratching across a record has become ubiquitous with the feeling of "you're in the wrong place, son," but I'm positive I heard the sound when I walked in.

Biker brass band? Who knew? Someone was actually bold enough to go in with his kit still on:

And if you think it's strange that there's a child in that photo, how about a wild hog?

Turns out one of the friends of the race and the bar is the local animal control officer. He'd caught a wild pig earlier in the day, and brought it by the bar to give to the bar owner, who'd recently lost one of his roosters, who was one of the family. No comment.

Truly, though, this was a family establishment, appropriate for children and pets, and evidenced by the family photos of past years' Bike Weeks on the walls:

I know that's how my family does it, anyway.

I had some really great host housing when I was in Samsula as well, so thanks to Junior and his family for putting me up with so much hospitality, and for taking me out for a post-race margarita:

One was plenty, I promise you. I also made some new friends, and I hope I cross paths with Lily and Stephen again sometime soon. You kids are adorable and I love you.

Oh, and I won this pretty spectacular BH carbon 'cross frame as a prize for the overall win:

I can't ride it, of course, but I wish I could. It's a really nice bike, and included a headset and carbon seatpost. Thanks a lot to BH for donating the frame. Selling this will pay for the whole trip, and it's greatly appreciated. It's a 54 cm, so if you're interested, get in touch with me about it. 

I'm about a week behind on road diaries. Next up, Dyer Consequences and Camp Murphy 'cross in south Florida.