The Garden and the Tractor: Terror of Teaberry

It's kinda funny how small this race is. It's hard,...I know...but it's like a mountain bike version of "Man Camp",....and as stated on David's invite, "If you don't know what to bring,...well then maybe you shouldn't be there in the first place." If your a Cupcake, you gotta' love/hate relationship with this place. It will hand anybody a mental, physical, mechanical, or summative breakdown. But,... if it just happens to be your day,... you could ride like a world champ, but at a tractor's pace that is, and realize it ain't about the speed, it's about patience and rythm,...not to be confused with flow. 'Cause as Buck will tell ya', there ain't too much flow to be found on that side of Cold Spring. So what the hell is rythm? It's in the bounce! I remember the English Muffin (I didn't give him that nickname and obviously the one who did never had the guts to tellem') talking about the Three-Mile Time Trial many years ago when he finished it in like,...I don't know,..17 minutes or something like that,...and he said it wasn't all about hammering, but more along the lines of finding the bounce in the rocks,...and rocks there are down here in Southy.
Pause,....go back in time again,...all those damn MASS races used to put up these virtual tours of the courses, and as you click from pic to pic, you realize,...well,..there ain't much there. But then we went that route for a year or two and posted a bunch of pics up for Iron Masters. I remember clicking on the pics of Graves Ridge and thinking,..."Holy SH$$$$$T!",.... "That's Money!"
So back at the scene, this is gonna' be "THAT" race. You'll either come back every year, or we won't ever see you again. And then there is the forecast,...fitty percent chance of T-storms!
Michaux has always been epic. But take the hardest thirty-something miles of your life, add a few thunderstorms on rocks that haven't seen water in weeks,...and you have an EPIIIIIIIIIIIIIC!!!$$$
An epic brings out the boys,.... the boys being the guys that if you end up riding with them, behind them, or lucky enough to drop them, you'll be okay with that! So the point is, here are some rocks you'll see. Just add a little mornin' dew and a good thunderstorm, and begin to visualize yourself as "That Guy."
Last race of the year for the Cakes! They'll be leaving it all out on the trail,...and afterwards,...on the tailgates.
See you in the woods!
Tractor.