Chickahominy River (New Kent, VA)

Since the age of, umm, well, since birth - I've been going to the Chickahominy River. A friend of my parents lives there and has always been glad to open his home, kitchen, dock, and boat to us.

Last summer we were so tied up with racing and riding that we didn't get to the river very often. This summer is certainly making up for lost time, though, as we've begun going once or twice a week, usually for the last few hours of sunlight after working all day. Well, enough of that sappy stuff - the photos:



Three interesting facts about my Dad:
1. He's 64
2. He can't swim
3. He's AWESOME on a slalom ski!



The boys from left to right: Payton, Ernie (Payton's Dad), Ray (My Dad), Me

Tubing on the North Anna River

A ragtag group assembled on Saturday for an impromptu float on the North Anna River. Nineteen of us spent five solid hours drinking, joking, and having a generally awesome time. My favorite aspect of this trip was the mixing of different "circles" of friends. Everyone got along great and I think the trip established a few new friendships as we floated along on the lazy river.



The VIP of the trip, of course, was Dignon. He spent most of the time in his corner of our canoe, but didn't hesitate to jump overboard and get a few quick swims in over the course of the day.

Plattekill (New York)

What a bummer!

The third installment of the Gravity East Series turned out to be a marathon of driving. Friday afternoon we clocked in at around nine hours on the road. Saturday started well, but ended quickly when Ross broke his wrist practicing the pro course. After that it was back on the road, driving to hospitals, waiting in ER's, and finally leaving Ross in the OR while driving back to the campsite - all totaling about 10.5 hours since the time of his accident.

The next morning Joey and I took some runs and competed in our respective classes while Ross patiently waited post-op. I had a couple slip-ups on my run, coming off the bike twice. Otherwise the run was great - fast and fun seemed to be the theme of the sport course. After our runs we packed up and headed the hour and a half to the hospital to grab Ross, turn around (the hospital was NW of our campsite), and head back to Virginia. We pulled into town at 3:45am.

After that trip I think we'll skip the next GES. It's only a week away and the drive promises to be even longer than Plattekill. I think we'll need a couple "local" trips to get back into the swing of things. The next long drive will be Sugarbush, VT for the fifth round of the GES.