Hot......Wet......& Sticky

Just how hot did it feel at the 13 Hours of Santos race this past weekend?

That's all I got to say 'bout that.

It was a great weekend to be among friends doing what we love to do. We kicked the rooster in the ass Saturday morning, picked up Flipper, met Dave and Carrie along the way to I-75, and headed south to Cordelle for some Cracker Barrel grub. Shortly after arrival at the Barrel, BK, John, Brett and Donna, Mark, Ronnie, and Nancy joined us.

After filling our bellies, we began the long 4-hour journey to Belleville, Fla. and Santos Trails. Traffic wasn't too bad and we made pretty good time. After arriving and setting up the trailer, we headed out for a group recon of the course.

During the ride, we find out the greatest news of the day: John Brown is not part of the course.

I was very happy to learn that tid-bit since I fell nearly 10 times last year on that short 1/2 mile of hell. After the 3-S turn, we enjoyed a lasagna dinner and I set up the laptop, projector, and screen for everyone to watch "Roam." I think it was a cool movie even though its mostly down-hill bikers and trials riding.

Race day came early and I was feeling very tense for no apparent reason. I wasn't worried about racing, the heat, or anything in particular, but for some reason my anxiety level was through the roof. I finally relaxed Monday night after returning home. For race day, however, it was great to have some awesome people around to make for a fun event.

BK and Dave kicking back before the fury.

Mark and Ronnie figuring out camera wiring. Guess which one is the engineer.

Le Mans starts are always fun if you don't run well.

Mother Nature worked up a wonderful liquid sunshine display with all the lights and sounds to accompany the extravaganza, and wouldn't you know it that Diana and Nancy would be out on the trail during the show collecting soil samples.

Nancy always smiles when she's riding.

Diana made sure a blood sacrifice was made to appease the cycling gods at Santos. She looks a little pissed about it too.

Not to be left out, Flipper decided to try and save the forest from the lightening on-slaught and hugged a tree to keep it from being scared during such trying times. He seems happy about his new ear piercing.....and I'm glad to announce he is doing very well since foot surgery a few short weeks ago.

The race was called after several inches of rain, a few trees were reported down on the trail, and lots of lightening making the area seem like a polaroid convention. Everyone cleaned up, showered, and decided to go hunt red meat for super.

The trip back was uneventful except the 30+ law enforcement we spotted along the way. We grabbed some java in Tifton to stay awake, and eased back into town to end a wonderful weekend.

It was a great weekend to be among friends doing what we love to do most. A great weekend indeed...