100miles, 29in, Foamhenge and Fear

COHUTTA 100
It's come and gone. Good riddence.
12th place was the result of my game plan. I knew it was different from my usual approach, but my early season legs wanted to go, go, go... and they went, at about mile 50. As people passed me, the looks on their faces told me what my my face looked like. At about mile 25 everything came back together and once again the looks of astonishment as I flew by told me how I was doing. To little to late. Next time Gadget.
And yes I finished putting together the new 29er on Friday. Holy sweet backwater. I've never ridden a bike like that. It weighs in right now at 23lbs and I still have some tricks to get the weight down another .5lbs or so. But besides being a featherweight, the thing rides beautifully. It loved the swooping trails of Georgia. I could whip it around like a fly-swatter and bury it in the corners. I'll post some pics later.
The drive down wasn't bad, 12hrs goes quick when the scenery changes from winter to spring in a day. Trees were thick with green fuzz. Virginia has a way of killing the spring. Between picking up Anti-Terrorist pamphlets and driving so close to Roanoke's VT tragedy, there were some sobering moments. It was a relief to hit North Carolina and Georgia where business signs promoting their two main products lightened the mood.
Tans and Videos
Fireworks and Beer.

This was on the side of a big rig

A major highlight of the return trip was the discovery of this cultural treasure. If you get off at exit 175 or 180 you'll find it. FoamHenge at the Natural Bridge exit.

Be sure to read the bottom to paragraphs.

Also on the return trip, we needed a break and saw a sign for Buck Bald. Thanks Buck!
It had a picnic table, a fire ring and a view to kill for.

Cohutta Ho! VillinCycles is a friend

Here we go again. I can't sleep but in 5hrs I'm supposed to be on the road with Elk.
This man Alexi Dold is a proper gentleman and FrameBuilder.

Fat Back, 3 Cat Shame and Dr. Noodleman

Scooters in Granada are the most popular type of transport. Makes a lot of sense to me but their exhaust fouls up the air.
Alley's were laid with stone, often in decorative patterns.
View of the Alahambra from the Plaza of Saint Nicolas.
Rainbows during the semana santa procession, gave me a moment of disbelief in my disbelief.

Back in the states and unless the two scales I've tried are wrong there is an extra 5lbs of me to love. I don't understand how that could be since eating in Spain was a crap shoot. Breakfast was insulting to the the "hungry man" plate at Denny's. The biggest meal I could find was two eggs fried with a couple pieces of tomato and some bread. But the fresh orange juice was a quencher and the coffee played the appetite supressor.
Lunch,..I can't really remember having lunch more that once. A piece of pork and some fries. Simple but that was one of the best meals we had. Oh and I visited the Kabab stands post rides most of the second week. Best kabab's ever, with cabage, tomatoes, carrotts, olives, beets and of course either chicken or falafal. Ruben had a problem with these, because of his sensitive stomach, he has a problem with a lot of things.
Dinners were either Moraccan or Spainish and were usually pretty good. Paella is the famous Spanish dish that basically seems like oil soaked rice cooked with the ingredients from a stir fry allready in it. It's good and filling but I don't get the hype around it.
So the XS faired well in the travels and has gone straight to the top of my list of road bikes. Never have I ridden anything like that bike. Smooth like manteca, quick as a whip at Catholic school and it read my mind like a jedi knight. If it was a camera it would be a Hassablad, or Linhoff.
Before I took it back to its original owner I had to race it one time, so I drove to NY for the Battenkill-Roubaix, with high hopes. Everything went as planned in the Cat 3s, the roads were conforming to the tubulars I stuck on and I actually played the patience game. On the last 1mile climb I launched my attack, pulled Carter and Peter along with me and at the top we only had about 4 miles to go with a decent gap behind. We worked well together and with about a mile to go I blew. Carter and Peter took 1-2 and I got swallowed by the pack. Next time Gadget, next time. Speaking of Inspector Gadget, has it ever occured to anyone that IG and Dr. Claw are metaphors for the cold war enemies of the USA and USSR? If you assume that the USA is the eventual victor then I'm basically saying that we are bumbling idiots, continuously saved by our 12yr old niece and her dog.
Oh and I got my new 29er frame Friday. I keep going back to it and running my fingers over the beautiful Ti welds.

Algo Mas?

I'm back. And the states don't seem quite the same. More Graffiti.
Balls

Politics

Exploratory Invasions/ Graffiti

Graffiti of Granada
There is a lot of it. Mostly the typical script style you can see almost anywhere.
I like the stencil pieces the best.
Granada has a very metropolitan feel. Lots of skinny people in black, tourists, pseudo punks,
semi-hippies, squaters, alternative lifestyle folk. If I was to be tested on what exactly it means to look
"euro"
I think I might pass. Highlights, faux-hawks, piercings. Hard to describe but easy to recognize.
We've Also ended up here during Semana Santa, a strange religious festival that people from all
over Europe travel to see. So from Monday and until next Sunday there will be processions in the streets. It's not really a parade, since only one group goes at a time, and there seems to be no singular moment that things happen. One group of Klansmen looking walkers, followed by a large float, carried by people and then that is followed
by a band playing music that switches between a slow funeral waltz to a slightly more jazzy beat.