Regional dialects

Monday, 10 July

Clint and I were out preriding the TT course here in Seven Springs this afternoon when we came across this sign. I guess it translates as a statement about the condition of the road, but it might as well be a menu for a diner up the way. We had to drive 20 miles today to buy beer (only by the case, from a "distributor" in this state), so who knows how they like their chips!

The course was an absolute blast to soft pedal on a road bike. The TT itself will be a different matter, though: lots of time out of the saddle, out of the aerobars, in the small chain ring, wondering why I don't have a 34 small chain ring on my TT bike.... The road is never straight and never flat. There is one 180-degree hairpin and a couple of places where you can't see over the crest of a hill. The road goes every which way, so sometimes it's a headwind, sometimes a crosswind, and, I guess, sometimes a tailwind. There are three substantial climbs, but you can settle into those; the rest of the time the course just rolls and rolls.

It's a scenic course. The first and last 4 miles are through a beautiful forest in a state park, then you break out into rolling farm country. Green, lots of trees, kind of like Co. Wicklow but nothing like Co. Donegal for which a nearby town is named.

Tomorrow we preride it on the TT bikes, in the aero bars (where my nerves allow).