BRAG Spring Tune Up - After the Ride Pictures and Thoughts

BRAG - STU 2009 is over and a good time was had by most everyone as best I can tell. The following pictures are in no particular order. I did keep hearing in my mind the phrase "Eat Mor' Chikn" and finally found the source which you will see as the last photo. Definitely subliminal mind control. I rode 122 miles in 2 days.

A field of yellow flowers - someone identify the type of plant please.

Has anyone ever gotten your goat? There was a large selection here on day 2 57 mile route.

Family on a triple!

Smallest SAG wagon I have ever seen. Limited to one problem at a time.

World's best DOG rider on STU - Marley! He got a lot of attention

Youngest rider - 6 months old a couple of days after STU.

Eat Mor Chikn - Eat Mor Chikn - Eat Mor Chikn

Chestatee Wildlife Preserve Ride

Today was a ride from Murrayville to the Chestatee Wildlife Preserve. The Preserve is a rescue facility for many animals and the pictures below are some examples of the animals living there. The refuge is seeing decreased funding due to the cutbacks in education with not at many field trips being scheduled. In talking to the staff, they will normally have 5 to 6 field trips a week and this year they have only had about 6 or so. If you feel so led, I am sure a donation to the operations would be appreciated. There web link is:

http://www.chestateewildlife.com/

I have ridden by it may times and it comes as quite a shock the first time to look down the hill from the main highway to see a white tiger watching you go by. You could almost see him lick his chops and thinking what a fine meal that big guy on a bicycle would make.

Kayla did great today and we had some pretty good hills to climb just to get there.
Kayla at the entrance off Old Dahlonega Highway
White Tiger

Buffalo

Peacock in full bloom - he put on quite a show for us

Siberian Tigers - look closely on the left side - that one is snoozing

Grizzly - where is John Wayne when you need him?

Ostrich

Forgot what this one is but he is cute. There are also several monkeys, a lynx, a zebra, burro, and others. Well worth the visit.

Kayla Day 2 Ride - Peach Orchard Special

This ride took place on Sunday, March 22. Today, the 23rd was a rest day for Kayla. I think we wore her out on Saturday and Sunday. She slept in until 10 AM this morning and I had to wake her up then to get her moving. We are riding tomorrow from Gillsville on one of the famous Jennie's Cafe Loops. Hope to get in close to 20 miles but who knows. All I can say, she is doing a whole lot better on her first 2 rides of any distance than I did. My first ride back about 5 years ago was 9 miles and I thought I was going to die. Kayla, as of today, has ridden about 46 miles, not counting whatever she has done on her bicycle.

Had some help on this ride. Debbie aka Grandee went. We rode from Lula to Alto and returned. Did a short side trip along County Line Road as we got into Lula and got a shot of Kayla at the edge of one of the peach orchards which are in full bloom.

Will definitely be back at Jaemore Farmers Market when the peaches come in.

Kayla Day 1 Ride - Saturday 03-21-2009

We picked up Kayla last night in Blairsville - the half way BP station as it is now known among the Loveless family. We have to get up and go outside every morning for the last several days to this view of our Camelia bush. Pink, red, white mix on the bush. This is probably the most blooms we have ever had.

We loaded up the truck this morning and went shopping at Joe's aka Habersham Bicycles. Kayla needed some riding shorts. Since the temperature was in the high 40's, it was a good use of the time and allowed us to wait until the temp got into the mid 50's before we started.

We started the ride about 2:30 pm from Quillian's Corner. It was still a bit cool and windy with the temp about 55 when we started and about 57 when we finished an hour later. Kayla pushed me 12.12 miles. Tomorrow we are planning a 16 mile or so excursion from Lula to Alto. Debbie will be going on this one so Kayla will have more entertainment than the big man up front.

Click on the title and you can check out the route we rode today.

Get The Real Dirt On Clean

Get the Real Dirt on Clean and Rx for Healthy Living
Saturday, March 28th, 10 am-noon
Georgia Mountains Center Theater, Gainesville
Speaker: Cindy Latham, MBA

Sr. VP of Marketing and New Product Development, Shaklee Corporation

This program kicks off the series of community-wide Earth Day events as we strive to reduce the chemical impact on the earth, reduce landfill waste and reduce carbon gas emissions – lighten our footprint. Shaklee is the ONLY Climate Neutral Company in the U.S. and an EPA World Leader.

Cindy will be talking about Shaklee's commitment to being GREEN – a company that was born GREEN...a dark deep green – way back in 1956 when green was just a name for a color. Shaklee was an Earth Day sponsor in 1990 with Basic H (now Basic H2), the only biodegradable cleaning product ever chosen. With many environmental accomplishments, Shaklee "walks their talk." Come meet Cindy Latham and learn about healthy alternatives to toxins found in common household cleaners which are linked to health problems. Cindy will share other benefits to your family, your home, your community.

You can make a real difference with Get Clean – always safe for the environment and always green plus smart for your wallet. Shaklee has done it right for 53 years!!

Cindy will also speak about the "Shaklee Difference" and "Rx For Healthy Living" – how to live a longer and healthier life. A healthy life starts with you and the choices you make everyday, which leads to a better world. This will be a life-changing experience. So, gather up your friends, family (especially your passionate to care for the environment friends) to come with you. Come "Get the Real Dirt on Clean!" and learn how you can be a part of the solution.

Door Prizes.

Weekend Century Ride(s)

Will also do a bit of catching up. This was sunrise off the back deck a few weeks ago. Have been on the run a bit with the grandkids coming down for a couple of days in mid February. Got in a 10 miler with Kayla on Sunday afternoon before they headed back home. She will be back in March for about a week to work on riding and getting ready for BRAG.

The Redbird trio or for those of you who are proper, Cardinals. Have more Bluejays and Doves than Redbirds. Will have more pictures coming since I broke out the old 35 mm with the 210 telephone lens and have been working through a 24 picture roll of film. I am doing this from a Rear Window but unlike Jimmy Stewart, I don't have a Grace Kelly although Debbie is a good substitute and I can hardly see the neighbors. Nor, am I wheelchair bound. I do have a picture though would remind you of The Birds with the crows perched in one of my backyard trees.

And then, there is the blizzard of 2009. Well, at least 40 miles south of here it sort of looked like a blizzard had gone through. The Athens, GA area got 6 to 9 inches of snow, had a lot of trees down across power lines, and people out of power for almost a week in some locations. As for us 4 miles north of downtown Gainesville, this was about it. Downtown got about an inch and just north of us got absolutely no snow.

Got in 100 miles in the 3 day weekend! I took off early on Friday and rode in the Clermont area. Rode Saturday morning and afternoon with Bernie and Palmer in the morning and then added some more miles in the afternoon solo. Sunday was punishment day with a final 33 miles with much of it against the wind. Reminds me of a Bob Segar song:

Against the wind

I'm still runnin (substitute Ridin) against the wind

Well I'm older now and still

Against the wind

The picture below was taken Sunday, March 8th. This was the windy day of the 3 days of riding. Saw this herd of cows and thought of Texas. Ought to be planning a riding trip for the Tour de Cypress in Mt. Vernon, TX in April but will have to pass this year.

I'm BACK

Well, I have been out of touch for a while but am getting back into it. Caught some kind of vicious cold/cough after Thanksgiving and have been fighting that since. Did get in 2515 miles for 2008 so am pleased with that. Went out on December 30th after not riding for a month and did 30.6 miles. That seemed to reactivate the cold/cough and am still hacking a little.

The weather has been terrible for most of January so far and since I am more of a fair weather rider (50 degrees and above), I have not been on my road bike although I have set up the hybrid on the fluid trainer inside in front of the TV.

Christmas was interesting. We traveled to Cleveland, TN on Wednesday evening and spent Christmas day with Kyle, Kathy, and the girls. Brooklynn got a new doll among a zillion other things and is pictured below.

Kayla, pictured below, got a new bicycle and, just like Brooklynn, a zillion other things.

The big surprise was the new swing set. Kyle's house had a blackout on the rear windows for several weeks and the girls were not allowed in the backyard. It was not very nice weather so it was not too difficult to keep them in. Each window was covered with gift wrap and the girls thought it was a fun game.

On the Friday after Christmas, we departed and drove to Canton, NC to visit Debbie's sister and her family. Both Ben and Katy. Katy and Matt have two little boys and between Brooklynn, Kayla, and the boys, the afternoon was lively. Left to right below - Brooklynn, Will, J. D., and Kayla.

Here is the whole Loveless family. Front row from the left - Kathy, Kayla, Debbie, Laura. Back row - Kyle, Brooklynn, Phil, Wes, Andra

More to come in 2009 while Phil and his bike travel on many adventures in the quest to hit at least 2009 miles in 2009.