Greenville County Road Trip

Took a road trip today to Greenville to see the US National Road Racing Championships. Beautiful weather, great city for all things outdoors, fantastic crowds, and incredibly talented pro cyclists. Eclectic shops, fine dining, great burgers, the river walk, and cold beer brought out all types of fans and those who just wanted to get out and see what all this racing hype is all about. The crowds were not disappointed. Brad Huff was off the front all day making a great show for himself. First off in a two man break on lap two and remained in the main break which at one point had almost 3:30 seconds on the peleton. He remained in the break fighting hard for the better part of four hours until the final trip up over Paris Mountain. If you don't know Brad, you should. Great guy, funny, smart, determined, and fast as hell, big things will come for Brad, he has only just begun. Oh yeah, and he has a very interesting pre-race warm up. How about stretching and some jumping jacks. Seems to work for him!

Big George, the home town favorite was riding well with one team mate in Craig Lewis and was in the hunt until final laps. (Thanks go out to Hincapie Sports and the Team Bus with the big flat screen with the live race feed for us fans without the $100 hospitality passes.) I had the small, vocal, beer drinking crowd all cheering for Brad at the bus. But the day belonged to Rock Racing. Mike Creed in the break with Brad all day and finally Tyler Hamilton had what is takes to earn the stars and bars next year. Tyler edged out Blake Caldwell from Garmin-Chipolte by 2 one-hundredths of a second at the line. The guys at Rock not only look good, but like it or not appear to be the real deal. They now have two US Championship jerseys to sport next year.

I also watched some future racers, saw some interesting art, creative hair styles, sweet bikes from Litespeed, Storck, and Cervelo. If you get the chance to come to Carolina, put Greenville on your itinerary, this is truly a town that has it all.

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Folly Beach South Carolina

Two hours from our doorstep! Just 15 minutes outside of my new favorite city, Charleston. Jackson's first official trip to the beach. We have to do this more often. More later, enjoy the pics.

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Charlotte USA Crit Series Day Trip

We loaded up the motor home and headed up I-77 to Charlotte to see the USA Crit Series Saturday. The setting was incredible, downtown Charlotte at dusk with my family. We had a great lunch at Ristorante Uno, headed uptown to the Discovery Center Museum (which was fantastic) and then to the start line of the race. We missed the women's race but got in some great family bonding time in the motorhome The boy's however, did not disappoint! The man of the night was Alejandro Borrajo who took a close sprint at the end over Health Net's Frank Pipp. It was full out from the gun, attack after attack that were reeled in until Bissell's Ted King went on a six lap solo flyer, but as the laps ticked down the peleton reeled him back. It was great to hear the crowd going nuts when the announcer would call out a $1000 dollar prime...several times throughout the night. Charlotte was a great setting for the Crit that had an incredible blend of people who were decked out for dinner in fine dinning establishments, those who were obviously out to meet the right person for the night, a second story outdoor patio bar with an ecletic blend of 30 something professionals to bikers all tatooed up. Next year we will however be a little more prepared. Fans had staked out the premier corners with tents, coolers, buffet tables, and music. Next year we will not be outdone! Watch for the Inmon clan in the corner with the tent and coolers! Enjoy the pics.

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