Vacation Starts Now........................

As you might be aware I am going to the beach tomorrow am (Saturday). I am taking a well deserved vacation with the wife and the boys. No we are not camping this time, we rented a condo back in January and had this trip already planned before we rented the condo. So I guess we are going to slum it and stay in a condo with showers and a kitchen this time. Hey life is rough sometimes, but I am willing to sacrifice. It's for the family..............

OK, since I got that out of the way we can move on now. We did trucks yesterday after I had a dream about them so today we are going to do bikes (my favorite) subject. Or bike racing its all the same. Lately I have kinda been interested in stage races. Those are races like The Tour De France. Everyday is a timed individual race. That would be a stage, most mtn bike stage races are around 5-7 days. At the end of the 5-7 days the times are added up and the person with the lowest time wins the overall.

The best part about a stage race is if you have a bad day it may not effect the out come of the overall race. At least you hope it doesn't. Most of them are so close in time that in reality it probably will affect the out come, but at least you still have hope. I have found out at these races they supply everything you need for the whole week, food, shelter, water and all the supplies at the aid stations. I like that ideal you become a community during this time period and have a great time with a lot of people who like the same things you do.

Here is the only draw back of all this I have found so far. THE ENTRY FEE...All the stuff they provide doesn't come free and all the people that take care of you need to eat also. Food ain't free!!!!! So here are the main stage races on the mtn bike schedule held here in the states.

Transylvania Epic Stage Race---- 7-days 235-miles 30,000ft of climbing cash purse of 10,000 entry-1,000
Held in Altoona Pennsylvania

Breck Epic Stage Race---- 6-days 240-miles 37,000ft of climbing cash purse of N/A entry-1,000
Held in Breckenridge Colorado

Pisgah Stage Race---- 5-days 195-miles 28,000ft of climbing cash purse of 15,000 entry-700
Asheville NC

They ain't cheap.....I know a few guys who have done the one in PA and the Pisgah race is right around the corner from me. I need a sponsor, one of those people who want to help in the form of money and support. Next year I am going to hit some of these...........................

At least I want to, my main sponsor (the wife) says we can probably work something out......