Vantaggio Emily: 6 Hours of Hate

Well. Hello there my loyal readers. When you last heard from me, I was on a mission to chill. Now, while hard core chilling on a professional level is pretty great, you just have to get out there and do some suffering. As cyclist knows this is just something that we are addicted to. SUFFERING. I don't know why we like it, but we just do.

So, this weekend certainly gave me the opportunity to suffer heavily. Let me just start from the beginning about this weekend....

So, originally I wasn't actually planning on racing. I was going to ride down the Syllamo's revenge with my boyfriend and just go along for the trip.I figured, "I've never been to Arkansas, so why not?" I figured there would be trees, roads, hills and chain restaurants. (Pretty much like Tennessee.) Anyways, I wanted to see for my self. Sean's awesome van (that you can sleep in) is loaded down with all of our gear and a food bag that could cook about three gourmet meals. Also, we decided to bring Sean's dog Tyrone along for the ride. He was sooooo happy!

As we get onto the highway (about two minutes from the house) we begin to notice this disturbing vibration that is vibrating the entire van. We know something is wrong, and then the whole thing just starts rolling all bumpy like. We pull onto the shoulder and discover that the wheel has FALLEN OFF. Like, seriously? How often does that happen? *sigh* So, after much ordeal we totally unpack the van on the side of the interstate, and make like tuna fish and get out of there.

It was too late in the day to get Sean to his race in a timely manner, so that whole plan just had to be aborted. We decided to ease the pain of our defeat by sitting by the pool for the rest of the day. Later that night we cooked dinner with some friends, and I at a steak...what a mistake. That stuff is WEIRD.

Anyways, so at about ten oclock we had the bright idea to get up in the morning and go race the Tsali 6 hour race in Bryson City North Carolina (or as some might say "cak-a-lacky"). After so much chillin for the past while, I wasn't entirely sure how successful this race was really going to be for me. But, I lined up with a positive attitude and just went for it.

The race began with a les mond (sp?) start that was literally like half a mile up a gravel road. When I started running my hands hurt. I thought that was really weird. Running is terrible, and it made me feel embarrassed and uncomfortable, but once I got to my pretty little Trek bicycle I felt in my element once again.

I just started pedaling because, well, that's just what you do at bike races. I had no clue where I was in the field, but I found this girl in my category (solo six hour women) who looked like she knew what she was doing as far as pacing herself, and I just stuck behind her. I was feeling pretty good!

Eventually we both stopped in the pits at the same time, and I was ready to leave before she was apparently, so I left, and then I never saw her again! I did six laps in all. 1,2, and 3 were fun, but then I got to a wall for sure and old number 4. I didn't cry, but I came pretty close. haha. So, after a long 66 miles I ended up as THE VICTOR OF THE DAY!

As my prize I received some lubricant for my butt, a two foot tall trophy, and a gift card to thompson. Not too shabby I would say. Oh, and a bottle of champagne, but we all know that I am under 21 and would never dream of sipping on some bubbly. : )

I was really proud of myself today. I paced my self well, and dug deep and kept my hate going the entire time. (We all know that hate is what makes you go fast. lol.) Yep. I really like to say "lol."

Riding bikes sure is fun yall!

Here is the photo documentation.