The 24hrs of Cumming Report Part 4

My bike, right where I parked it Saturday night.

About 10:30pm Sam gave up his quest to ride the third leg. His gal Abby came and scooped him up while I was sleeping on the hardwood floor above the Cumming Bar. Sam said later that when he got back he tried waking me, but I was not moving, and he only checked to see if I was still breathing then he went down to celebrate his birthday.

Yes, at midnight it was Sam's birthday.

At 12:32 am Sunday my Fitbit watch rattled my wrist with a text notification. I cracked open my eyes and tried to read it, and it said, "Wake up we are drinking downstairs."

I was still in sleep mode, but I also knew that this was a special time to spend with Sam. I have never been around for one of his birthdays, so to pass up a chance to celebrate one with him would be rude. I got up, threw on my shoes, and slowly walked down the steep staircase to spend time with my friend.

It was about what you would imagine. Shots fired, beers drank, and some "Vegas" concoction that tasted like peaches. Then it was time to leave the bar and we went outside on the patio where the imbibing and conversations went on into the night. Sam, seemingly, had had enough and did the wise thing and went back upstairs to sleep.

Whatever the reason, I was wired. I don't know why, but I felt like I had drank a quart of coffee. My body was burning through calories and I guess I wan't feeling it like some of the other folks were around me. I fell into a long conversation with Stretch Wilson, the event volunteer I mentioned in an earlier chapter of this report. It was a great time getting to know him. I also chatted up Adam Blake of Gravel City Cyclery at about this time which was fun as well.

My Gent's Race teammate, Bob, at about Sunrise Sunday morning

I was standing around yakking when I felt someone was standing next to me and I turned and looked to see a Warren County Sheriff. Oh! Hello! Turns out he was just checking on the scene and he was very supportive of the event and what we were doing as long as we kept it "safe". Definitely! We were keeping it "safe".

Next thing I know someone said it was 4:30am and I figured I should try to go lay down, but the door to the stairwell had been locked. Hmm..... Okay, back to the patio!

There was no shortage of conversation. It seemed several folks were in this for the long haul, and I really wasn't tired. (Weird!) I spent a bit of time chatting up my Gent's Race teammate, Bob, who was running the music. He had been hooked on that old Chuck Mangione tune, the one we all knew with the flugle horn, and Bob  must have played that 50 times over the course of the weekend. So I asked him if his gadget had any other tunes on it. He said it did, so I started suggesting some different fare, which steered us out of Chuck Mangione ear worm territory, at least for a while!

Then someone woke up and fired up the grill to make some breakfast sandwiches, which were pretty tasty. I had one and then looked at Bob and noted that the sky was getting lighter. It was near dawn Sunday. Dang! I stayed up all night? Then we noted a big shelf cloud and then the wind came up. We battened down the hatches and then a little bit of rain fell. The first drops in a month.

I went upstairs after 6:00am sometime when the doors were unlocked again and slept an hour and a half or so until I heard Sam stirring. We broke camp and packed everything of ours into the Sprinter van, left Cumming behind, and said goodbye to the 24hrs of Cumming.

It wasn't the way I imagined it would go, but parts of it were really fun, and parts of it weren't. I learned that I wasn't recovered from the GTDRI, and earlier this week I was super sore and stiff. It will be an "easy week" this week getting rested up for Gravel Worlds next weekend.

Thanks: To Sam Auen and his gal Abby for putting up with me and having me as a guest in their home. To Steve Cannon for all the efforts in putting on the 24hrs of Cumming-thank you. To Stretch Wilson, the volunteer and anyone else responsible for the event-thank you. Thanks to Adam Blake/Gravel City for sponsoring the event and for the friendship- thanks! Thanks to Bob Moural for being the best teammate and for your hospitality. To the Cumming Tap for hosting- Thank you! To N.Y. Roll for loaning me the light and peanut butter sandwich- Thanks!

I'll post a BgP Black Mountain Cycles rig report later.