Turkey Day Ride 2017

Thursday, of course, was Thanksgiving Day which means eating way too much food and feeling like an overstuffed tick for the remainder of the day. Around here it also means the annual Turkey Day Ride.



As it has become a bit of a tradition now, I whipped up a back of the dark chocolate, jalapeno bacon for the event. Making the bacon, leaving it alone in the fridge over night, covering it in chocolate the next day and then leaving it overnight in the fridge again is almost impossible to do without sampling some of it, purely for Quality Assurance purposes of course. The entire house smells like bacon for days.


I have been doing the rides for the last 5 years and this year we had a really big group, had to be one of the bigger years. Then again when the forecast for the day is near 60 degrees rather than below freezing, it tends to attract more people.









Trails were in perfect shape, it's really been a pretty mild fall thus far and I for one am not complaining too much although a decent smattering of snow this winter would be nice as well.


Rode out to the CVO tree and clearing as the halfway point and regroup.





By the time we made it out to the halfway point I swear we picked up a few more riders along the way, I'm not sure if there was an official head count but I would guess we had somewhere around 25-30 people enjoying the day.




Of course riding and then standing around in the heat and sun tends to make one thirsty, it's a good think that most cyclists I know are well prepared to stave off that thirst.





Since it was Thanksgiving and several people had commitments they needed to get to, we didn't dawdle too long out there, the group split into two or maybe three groups at that point. Some heading back on the single track, some back on the limestone and some heading home which ever way was quickest for them.



There were still plenty of folks who made it all the way back to Kyle's house where we were greeted by a life sized piece of bacon. And a foggy camera.




Food, as always, was bacon themed and delicious. Although not pictured the beermosas were good too and it was such a mild day out that several of us ate outside. Can't hardly complain about being able to ride in non winter clothing at the end of November, especially when surrounded by good friends. Hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving Holiday, two more rides and blogs to follow from the weekend that I hope to knock out by Tuesday at the latest.

Mellencamp-town races

When I was a young boy
Said put away those young boy ways
Now that I'm gettin' older
So much older
I love all those young boy days
With a girl like you
With a girl like you
Lord knows there are things we can do, baby
Just me and you
Come on and make it dirt...
Picked up a book the other day, "1000 Excuses So You Don't Have To Do Shit", it's a crappy read but it lets you come up with reason to avoid doing stuff you know you should be doing but aren't, It's a NY Times best seller. I should be racing these races instead of making excuses not to, to be honest though the last few years my prep work and training just hasn't been nearly what it was or should be when I was racing more... I think that's excuse # 205 in the book if you're keeping track. Any way... Psycowpath had their first race of the season today, didn't race it but did volunteer to help out...




...and cook an ass load of bacon, 9 lbs to be exact. The apartment still smells like bacon, I may have destroyed a kitchen and I pretty much felt like I absorbed one of these jars full of bacon grease through my skin. but man was it worth it, it is bacon after all.


Got up early and took my loot to Swanson to get ready for the race.


7:15 in the morning and all is calm and quiet for the moment, not sure what the total racer count was on the day but there seemed to be a really good turn out.


Water, bacon, good tunes and cowbell, lots more cowbell, what else could you possibly need for a bacon hand up station halfway through a lap?


Good help is always needed and this guy was here to lend a hand.... er, paw in any way he could.


The Feagan's were even kind enough to provide some pit stick just in case someone didn't feel fresh halfway through their lap?!? Naw, it was just in the bag with the cups but now that the idea is out there just wait, in a year or two pit stick handups will be the norm. Just you wait.

Trail seemed to be in really good shape despite the rain we had on Thursday, wish I would have had more time today so I could have ridden a few laps after the race.


New this year was a running race prior to the MTB race, seemed like a really good concept and everyone I talked to was having a good time and a few of them ran and then rode, I call those people insane but you might have your own word for them.

I was only able to stay until noon so didn't get a chance to see the category 1 or 2 racers but the marathoners and the beginners are always fun to watch and it seemed like almost everyone had a great time.

I say almost because there is one dude out there that should really take a close look at himself in the mirror and make a few changes in his life. About the only negative on the day was the one Jr. racer who showed up at the bacon station almost in tears and ready to quit. She was dead last by a long ways but that wasn't what had her upset, one of the marathon racers decided that they needed to curse at this young girl of about 10-12 because she was "riding too slow and was in the way"... really dude, you should be ashamed of yourself. Guys like that aren't the future of our sport, or at least I hope they aren't, that little girl and her friends are the future of the sport and to yell at her because she was naturally not going as fast as the much more experienced riders seemed more than a little uncalled for. Luckily after a few pieces of bacon, some water and a pep talk from those of us up there, to include her mother, the girl decided to get back on the bike and finish the lap... despite knowing that the "really scary hill" (decent section) was coming up. I truly hope that the encouragement that she was able to get at the halfway point was enough to keep her going in future races and she can block out the bad seed who decided it was more important to Strava the section than to encourage a fellow racer. Fortunately those kinds of people seem to be the exception rather than the norm at these races... deep breaths, rant over... hope everyone who participated had as good a time out there today as I did volunteering. 

Swine & Wine

It's been a crazy month and a half, apartment hunting, packing and moving has left little time for anything else. Heck I haven't even touched any of my bikes except to move them since the 2nd of February, that right there is a sad, sad statement. Thankfully the move went off without too many hitches last weekend, which is good because this weekend was Baconfeast. I have been looking forward to this for some time and it did now disappoint.



Walk in the door and right off the bat, bacon ice cream with candied walnuts and bacon crumbles was placed right in your hand.



These maple bacon mini cupcakes from Serendipities Cupcakes were amazing, definitely will have to make it over there to buy a few cupcakes.


Wasn't really all that impressed with the chocolate oreo bacon truffles, too much chocolate and not enough bacon.


The last sweet morsel I had was the maple bacon long john, probably my all time favorite bacon donut concoction.


After a few sweet items it was time for the salty stuff, mini burgers made from ham and bacon were pretty good.

Up next were pork sliders with Dijon cream sauce on a pretzel bun and another offering with pickle and feta cheese, I think in a full size sandwich either would have been good for lunch.



The bacon nachos and chicken and bacon carnitas were also tasty, just wish there would have been a bit more to make a better determination.

You can never go wrong with meat on a stick and the honey mustard turkey wrapped in bacon lived up to it's reputation, the braised beef with bacon from 9 South Chargrill was probably one of my favorite items in the entire Baconfest.


Of course after eating all that salty and sweet goodness you are bound to get a little thirsty and the beer offerings were on par with the bacon. The beer however was not free.

The bacon wrapped Gouda chicken was pretty awesome as was the pork butt and bacon mashed potatoes, the little dab of salsa next to the mashed potatoes was incredibly tasty and insanely hot. After mixing them together and eating them I literally was sweating for the next 20 minutes.


You can never go wrong with pork sausage or jerky, the Super Saver table was good... haven't ever seen any of these items at Super Saver but I'll have to look now.

Can't have bacon with out a few pigs now can  you.

I'm not a huge wine person, beer is more my style, but there were several people heading out to Deer Spring Winery after the Baconfeast and it did sound interesting as I'd never been there before so off we went. It really is a pretty interesting place, not much going on at this time of year other than the wine but in the summer you can watch the crushing of the grapes on the weekends. I did manage to find three wines during the sampling that I would drink again but the bitter/dry ones are just not for me.


The welcoming committee was pretty friendly and inviting.


The history of the place was very interesting, at one time it was apparently owned by Ulysses S. Grant and the deed with his signature on it hangs on the wall. If you're a wine connoisseur or just a recreational binger you should definitely check the place out if you like the fermented grape juice. After all the stress, lost sleep, mess and craziness of moving and unpacking this was just what the Dr. ordered to help get things back to normal... or at least it would be if Dr.'s actually prescribed such things.