Year of the Snake

Enough already!!!!! The weekend is the third time I have run into/over/next to one of these rattlers. Hope the old adage is true that it comes in threes.

Suddenly Single

It is about 6 months since the commitment to single speed the Cape Epic was made by my partner and now that it is time to sh*#t or get off the pot he has elected to get off the pot!
What this means is I am now standing at the alter, lottery slot in hand and in need of a partner for the 09 race. Where you may ask do you fit into this equation......must be strong enough to have a go at a top half of the field finish, pony up the extra dollars/rands for the premium package (yes it is hard enough riding this race that I won't consider the tents) and must ride a single speed (unlike '07 suspension forks are okay).

New Marshall in Town

Decided to take the weekend off from the usual grind and provide my services to Dark Horse Cycles as a course marshall for the Dark Horse 40. The beauty is that the race takes place in my home course and is less then 10 minutes from the house meaning less travel and more time relaxing.
Getting there nice and early, Beth and I established our base camp right at the bottom of the Washboard climb, the spot that no rider was going to like on the first lap and definitely would not like on the second lap (at the 36 mile marker). With the recent rains there was the potential for a full onslaught of mosquitoes and horse flies so we took the trusty truck and rigged up the mosquito netting in the back and settled down in the chairs for some serious marshalling and beer consumption.
By the time the second lap came around and the elite riders had come and gone the fun really began as riders, faced with the loose rock climb, were seeking alternative course routes. Being a good marshall means that you need to be astute enough to read the look in a rider's eyes and know whether to direct them up the climb or to the nearest keg (we did offer the more desperate looking an icy cold one from the cooler) and the keg route did have several takers.
All in all a pretty lazy day and a nice change in pace from the usual training. Now time to get down to it and focus on the Shenandoah 100!