Lemonade, 50 Cents

Last week I spoke of a ride inspired by the efforts of Frank Schleck and the prospect of being chased down by Action Figure Bill. But for every great ride a guy (or gal) has, there is a price to be paid. Yesterday, I paid.

It started out as just another after work ride. I was looking at doing what has turned into the "usual loop", then Bill drops the line on me, "You're getting pretty well adapted to this loop. We need to mix it up a little. It'll be good for you!"

I was feeling good, so I ignored the classic "it'll be good for you" warning sign. It wouldn't be long before I would regret this blunder.

It was the usual route at first, until we got around Fayson Lakes, and we did...THE TURN!! I got the overall description of the new leg of the ride, and was informed that I had two hard climbs to look forward to. And sure enough, we came to a hill. As I struggled up over the hill (literally and perhaps metaphorically), AFB rode by me like I was standing still and yelled over, "This isn't one of the hard ones".

And he was right. The next one was MUCH harder. I dug deep down into my reserves to muster up the energy to enquire if this was one of the hard ones. Fortunately (I think), it was. As we crested the hill, there was a lemonade stand with a sign saying LEMONADE 50 Cents. Sadly, it was unattended. And I can tell you, some little kid missed a big sale, because I was prepared to throw down a five and say "Keep that sugar water coming!!"

We had a little teaser of a down hill, and then back up. This was the second hard climb. The difficulty wasn't so much in the grade as it was in the duration. Every time I thought I was at the top, my enthusiasm was beat down by the sight of another pitch up. Somewhere in this climb, Action Figure Bill graciously parted with the last of his Nuuns and a couple of shot blocks, which was manna from Heaven at that point. And eventually the climb did end, and we were back on the original course. From there, we still had a fair bit of riding to do, but we put foot to pedal and finished it out.

Fortunately for me, I made it to town just before Nature's Enerqi closed, so I could grab my power ball and an iced tea to pull me the rest of the way home, where I proceeded to collapse. They say that which does not kill you makes you stronger. I have hopes.

I Want to Be Frank Schleck When I Grow Up!!

Today was one of those days where what started out as a ride disaster turned into by best solo ride of the year so far. If it was a solo ride, why is it the Waffler's Blog? Because although he did not ride, Action Figure Bill was a driving force.

I had wanted to ride today because I had two big inspirations from the Tour de France today: Frank Schleck doing a heroic ride in support of his brother, Andy, and Thor Hushovd serving the Manx Mouth, er Missile, Mark Cavendish a tall glass of shut up. Bill was not able to ride, but urged me on to the road. And so I eventually set out. Five miles in to the ride, I reached for my water bottle for a drink, and realized that I had left something very important at home. You guessed it! There was no way I could do twenty-three miles with no water. I was ready to turn it around and go home, but as a last ditch effort, I put in a call to Action Figure Bill for some Waffler Team Car assistance. He was not quite home from his errands, but he said he would stop at his house, snag a water bottle, and me me along the route. All of a sudden, it was on!

Now, don't get the idea that I thought I was going to beat Bill in his car, but I just wanted to be farther along than he would be expecting when he caught up with me. I figured I could at least make it to the top of the big hill at Kinnelon before my water drop. So I dropped the hammer, and took off. I made great time to the base of the hill, and as I started the climb, i couldn't tell if it was from the exertion or the excitement of the chase. Every time I heard a car behind, I was checking to see if it was Bill. All of a sudden, I was Frank Schleck climbing the Col de la Colombiere. And when I crested the climb and still did not see the car, any pain from the climb was flushed away, and I threw myself back into the frantic pace.

When I came around the lakes, I was torn between the thrill of not having been caught by the team car,, and concern for lack of water since I was getting a bit dry in the throat. Bill caught up just at the right time, handed me one water bottle and doused me with another, and I got back on the pace. Because it was getting a little dark, Bill tracked me the rest of the way back, and hopefully got a few good pix. And this ride was wrapped up with a 15.3 MPH average pace, and two slices of pizza.

And that's how a ride started as a disaster, and wound up wild! (for me at least)

The Closing of Another Charleston Trip

We were up early on Thursday, and we were on the road at 6:30 am. We made great time up to Hickory. The purpose of stopping there was to get some grass planted on my father's property. We accomplished this with the help of a friend of Dad's named Ralph Jenkins. Ralph is a local Hickory man, and all around good guy. With his help, Dad and I got the seed laid down in good time. We checked in to the hotel, and settled in early.

Friday, it was up early again. We stopped at IHOP for a quick breakfast at six, and then got on the road so that we could spend the morning on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was worth the side trip. We were just past the peak season for the changing of the leaves, but we still got treated to an amazing display of color and scenery. The land along the parkway seems to be untouched by modern society. The mountain top scenery is occasionally interrupted by a farm house or some pasture land. There are also one or two historical sites along the way as well. We took our time making frequent stops to check things out. We could have stayed on the Parkway for much longer than we did, but as scenic as it is, the Blue Ridge Parkway is not a great place to make time, and we had to get home Friday night. So we got off after a scenic three hours, and got back on track for the drive home.

Winding Down in Charleston

Sorry, no pic today!

Yesterday, the diesel mechanic came to visit "The Black Dog", and set to work diagnosing the problem, which turned out to be the exhaust manifold. The good news was that otherwise, the engine is in great shape, and Bob got some good tips from the mechanic on keeping it so. Afterwards, we made the trip from Beaufort to Charleston by car. It seemed ignominious to have a sailing trip torpedoed by a bad engine, but we were happy to have a couple of days of great sailing. Upon arriving back to Bob and Ronda's home in Charleston, we kicked back to relax a bit. The only task for that evening was to get Bob's car from the marina, for which occasion we used the MGB. I convinced Bob to detour through downtown, and I got to drive the MGB through downtown Charleston!

Today it was back to work for Bob, so I took Dad through historic Charleston. We visited Ft Sumter, met Ronda for lunch at Toucan Reef (where I had a great bowl of shrimp and grits), and walked around the South Battery and Meeting Street. We then stopped at a local fish market to get some locally caught fresh shrimp as part of a dinner we made for Bob and Ronda.

Tomorrow we say goodbye to Bob and Ronda, and head back to North Carolina to to do some work on one of Dad's properties, and then Friday we will start for home by way of the Blue Ridge Parkway. I hope that leg of the trip will produce some breathtaking photos to share.

In Port Repairs

We all had a good night sleep, and it was up early for us. Some of us earlier than others. Clive invited up to the Greaves household for hot showers. Not sure if it was a generous offer or a prerequisite for driving us into Beaufort, but since we could not run the engine to get hot water, we were happy for the offer either way. After a good breakfast at Blackstone's, Dad and I did a historic carriage ride through Beaufort, which was both entertaining and informative. After that, it was back to the business of the boat. Bob arranged for a diesel mechanic to drop by the boat, and Dad used his talents to fix the outboard motor for the dinghy. After completing some other tasks aboard the boat, Clive and Jennifer treated us to a very delicious home cooked meal with an evening of rich conversation. It was a night that will be long remembered by us.

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Tribulations

Today was a day to separate the men from the boys. I hope that we fell in to the former. We got underway early, and enjoyed some great sailing as we started from the North Edisto to Post Royal Sound. The winds were good. So good, in fact, that we thought we'd like to run out the spinaker. The problem was that the spinaker had a tear. Bob and I tried to patch it, but we seen to have on future as sail makers. The patch lasted about five minutes. We still had a great sail though, until we hit Port Royal Sound. We had to in under power, but discovered the engine had cooling issues. At one point, we could not restart it, but we were able to get it working to get to Beaufort under our own power. It was a trying day, but we had the right crew to see us to port. Fortunately, we had a berth available near where Bob's father lives, so we can get some work done on things tomorrow, as well as enjoy
some of Beaufort's many offerings.

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Under the Black Flag

We made great time to Charleston yesterday. After such a trip, it was nice to relax by the water before dinner. We attended a small dinner party thrown by Bob and Ronda, and were joined by Bob's parents and their two friends, and then we all got into costume and headed into Charleston. Sadly, I took no pix,, but we had a blast and saw many costumes, from Sara Palin to mermaids. Today it was up early for breakfast, and then doing the needful to get the boat ready to go. There was work to do for all hands, but we were underway by four, and the jolly roger was raised soon after. The winds were good so we chose to head out for a night sail. We lost the wind by nine, but as compensation we were treated to a stunning view of the Milky Way. We are now anchored in the North Edisto, and we are anxious to see where the wind takes us tomorrow.

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