Tour de Possum Creek

This morning my dad, Tony, and I rode the Tour de Possum in Yuma, Virginia (I just kept think about "3:10 to Yuma" as we were crossing the railroad tracks on the course...). The Tour de Possum is a yearly race that happens during FunFest. My dad had gone with a friend a few weeks ago to ride the 22.5 mile loop they use for the race for fun. He had a great time and said we would ride it the next time I was home.

which
was
this weekend...

I have been riding all summer, but have really just started riding on the road in the last month or so. My dad just got a new road bike a few weeks ago and has really gotten into riding, so we decided to take the morning trip to Yuma. Tony and my dad both has nice road bikes, and I was riding electric plum (that is the name of my Trek mountain bike... it is also the color of the bike). I have been wanting to get a road bike, and today just pushed me over the edge. I love my Trek bike, it is great for trails and all purpose riding, and it even does ok on roads.. but I had to fight just to keep up with them (especially on the rolling hills and flat parts. They were just spinning, and I was in my hardest gear trying to keep up). But it was such an amazing ride. It just might be one of the most beautiful places on earth. Everywhere you looked were mountains, trees, huge fields, open space, and very few cars. You would forget about the road and just be looking at the scenery.

This was my first longer distance ride.. and I am addicted to them already. I have done plenty of 10-11 mile loops, but there was just something great about getting above that 20 mile mark. I even went out and got a road bike this afternoon!! I have been looking for a while and not having much sucess. I heard from some of the people at the bike shops that the prices were going up $100 next year, and the bikes were not getting any upgrade... I wanted to get an '08 model that had been marked down. We went to the store where my dad got his bike to look around. They were out of the ones that he had, but had a similar one for sale. It was the only one they had left and they had just put it together the other day (no one had ridden it at all). After riding it, I knew that it was a good bike, and I could not beat the price.... so I got it! I am picking it up tomorrow after church. I can't wait to get out on the roads of Greenville and test it out.

If you are ever in the east Tennesse/ Virginia area, you need to check out the Tour de Possum creek route. It is just amazing to ride around that area.

More bike stories to come...