Are You F'in Kidding Me?

That's the response I usually get when I tell people what I'm doing on Labor Day weekend. Yep, 100 miles on a bike. A mountain bike. In one day. With 14,000 feet of climbing. With 100lbs of rocks on your back. Ok, no rocks on your back, but some on the ground. ===> That's big daddy last year.

The Shenandoah Mountain 100 is a really fun event. Chris Scott down in Harrisonburg puts it on with the help of the entire town. It's the best supported event I've ever done. I have said many times that I eat better at the rest stops at the SM100 than I do at home. The volunteers are the best and most helpful. You roll into a rest stop, somebody grabs your bike to lube the chain, your camelbak gets pulled off your back and they ask what to fill it with, your bottles disappear and get filled and put back on the bike. There are volunteers asking you what you want to eat and they hand it to you if you aren't already standing in front of the 20 linear feet of food at your fingertips.

This is what happens when you play on the campground stuff for two days straight AND don't sleep at night. Emma fell asleep on our campsite bench and managed not to fall off. That's impressive. We camped at the SM100 last year with both kids even though Jeremy wasn't even 1 yet. He had a great time even though we threw him a curveball with new shoes the day before we left. We got to Stokesville Friday and had a great time.

As has been mentioned before, the volunteers are the best at this event. Most of all, Scud is the highlight of the weekend. This guy is the most enthusiastic person at the SM100 every year and he's the friggen cook! Last year he rode. We hung out at the back at the beginning of the ride and had some great conversations, as usual. Here he is coming across the line. That's the face of tired. Scud is still one of the coolest guys I've ever met. He gets stuff done. He cooks all weekend for 300+ of the hungriest people on the planet, before AND after the event. People don't really race the SM100 for the win, they race so that they don't miss out on Scud's sweet potato fries. Of course, they go great with beer. Scud is sponsored by The Bike Lane over in NoVa, a sister shop of City Bikes, if you ask me. We both try to specialize in mountain bikes and mountain racing along with all of the other city-stuff that we do. It's nice to 'compete' with another shop to see who can do the most for advocacy in the DC area. We all end up winning. For a long time, City Bikes was all alone in significant support for trails, trailwork and on-road advocacy, especially WABA. Now, everyone seems to see the benefits, which is rad.

Finally, we have Jeremy waiting for his beer. This is almost one year ago, before birthday number one. Yes, he's a bit confused, like his daddy. He can keep up with his sister now but last year, he was left behind a bit by Emma the Wonder Sister. He still follows her around like a shadow (usually to try and take something from her) but Susan and I are very happy that they act like best friends.

So, to sum up, SM100 hard, Scud=good, kids rock. I'll see you down at the Stokesville campground with Chris Scott, Scud, Larry 'the Camper' Camp, Gwadz's, MattyD, JoFo, Scardaville and the rest of the bunch. Get yourself registered, get on the bike and prepare for the best single day of riding EVER!

Oh, I forgot to post this pic of Big Mike (not me) out at the Lance Armstrong Foundation ride in Port-land, OR. Here he is, rocking the City Bikes colors, with the COO and VP of Marketing of LAF plus the founders of Merkle|Domain in Seattle. The big guy on the right used to play for the Vikings. Whaddya think? Receiver? Heh. Check out that Landshark Bike Mike is holding. That poor guy has a few of those bikes, including a rad fixie that he used to race in LA on the track that is now his urban bike. You don't get paint jobs like that anymore. Notice the bar tape. Damn. That's what I call committed! Like, 'he should be committed!' I'm glad that I'm faster than him this week. A few weeks back on the bike for him and I will be nervous but I can take him now... Maybe.