Getting Cozy in the Vibe
Altoona finished with a mixed bag of results. From there, we packed up the Vibe with two King brothers, two Australians, 5 duffle bags, 4 bikes, 8 sets of wheels, food, tons of equipment, and everything else we'd need for the Bank of America criterium. With so much stuff weighing down the car, it was pretty much spewing sparks as we drove 10+ hours from Altoona, PA to Charlotte, NC.
Here we are crusing down the highway with four clowns making faces at the camera - obviously a very candid shot. Note the napkin tucked into my shirt collar; I have this keen ability to accidentally spill coffee on my shirt whenever driving. I've already spilled at this point; the napkin is to prevent future mishaps.
Charlotte is an awesome little city. Our hosts Neill and Lori have a townhouse really close to downtown Charlotte where Robbie and Rich stayed, as well as an apartment a few miles away where Tommy and I called home for the week.
Here's a nice set of peaches. Mid week, Robbie and I drove down to Greenville, SC to scope out the courses that'll be used for the US Pro road race and time trial courses over Labor Day weekend. Peach stands are a dime a dozen down yonder and after passing about a dozen of these stands, we decided it was high time to pay them a visit. The best part about this trip - besides the amazingly delicious fruit - is that when we asked how much 2 peaches would cost, the fruit stand man said we could have them for free! Booya. Apparently when you sell peaches by the bucketfull, dealing with peaches by the ones and twos isn't worth his time. It's also notworthy to point out that Robbie is not trying to blind the camera with his bleach white chest. He's merely trying to keep cool in the 103 degree, drenching humidity.
On the way back to Charlotte, we saw an RV that had hit the deck pretty hard and caused some serious traffic back up. I think it was about 10 miles or so... Dang.
Lastly, I'd like to tell you about a sweet stunt I pulled while riding here in Michigan recently. I was riding out to Lake Michigan from Delton, which is a nice rolly 100 mile round tripper. I was enjoying a Twizzler when I hit a bump and dropped it. Usually all's lost in this situation, but in this particular instance, the Twizzler landed on my left shoe as I cruised down the road at 20mph. Instead of panicking at the prospect of losing my Twizzler, I reached down and saved it from it's hot, black, tarmac demise. Phew.