Live free and fly!

It was time to change things up a bit and try something I had never done before: skydiving. It was something I always wanted to try but never had the nerve, until a couple crazy guys talked me into it. What better way to spend a day then to jump out of an airplane!

It was on a beautiful October weekend, an extended summer this year so it was a hot day. We all drove out to Archway Skydiving, out in Vandalia, IL about an hour away from East of St. Louis. We decided to do a tandem, jump mainly which means the instructor is connected to you on the way down wears the parachute, all you do is enjoy the ride. The hardest part is, of course, jumping out of the plane!

We went through a myriad of paperwork to sign so that to save us the time and money in trying to sue them if something went wrong. We also viewed a video to enforce that point again. After that we dawned our flying gear and some preliminary instructions on how to fly and land! Yes, very important. During this time we were being video taped for DVD prosperity which is great idea for the first jump!

The plane itself was small, enough to hold about 10 people with some gear and the pilots. The jump window was just a round rolodex type window that rolled up and there was the outside. No locks, no bars, no nothing, just the windy outside! Once inside, and somewhat comfortable, the plane was up in the air gaining altitude slow according to my newly altimeter that I was wearing for the trip. At about 6k, two divers rolled up the window and jumped out! Wow! I was going to do this, I was feeling a bit nervous but not enough to just not do it. Both Jay and I looked out side to find the two early jumpers and watch as the roads a became smaller and less visible through the clouds. The sun was getting close to setting, but it would still be a few hours yet for that and we would be back home to Vandalia within the hour.

We came up to 14000 feet and it was time to jump. The girl with us went first, she didn't see reluctant, her instructor moved her toward the rolled up window and like, that -- they we were - out and gone! Then, Jay went next, my heart was starting to beat faster now and he was gone. Now it was my turn. I noticed that the instructors didn't waste too much time as we got to the open window. We rocked a few times and then out I went -- into the cold air (probably less than 20 degrees) and just like that I was flying, probably faster than my car would ever get up to, viewing the clouds, sun and the video guy in front of me while we turn a 360, it was an amazing feeling of just falling and just like that it was over! What seemed like 10 minutes was only 60 seconds of free fall at near terminal velocity was short but quite exhilarating than any other sport , circus ride I've every done!

If you ever have the chance, step up and do it!

the flying Red horse

Sandy Creek Century

Hello again, another fun-filled day of biking, heat, sweat, water and tasty liquid goos to report about today. Yesterady, I did the the last 5 Star Century series last Saturday in Hillsboro, MO. For October it was unseasonable warm, especially for an early 4:30am wake up time.






It was a dark and humid morning for this last 100 mile bike ride. Also, it was an hour drive down to Hillsboro, Missouri so it was going to be another adventure just to find the starting location. Alas, I had better directions and an hour and 15 minutes I made it to the starting point.

After 5 century rides this I was beginning to get into a routine to prepare for the ride so I'd not forget any item, like shoes, gloves, sunglasses, body glide, etc. I had already pre-registered so the paperwork was done, just needed the map and some sunlight to lead the way. Along with my biking pal, we punched are time cards in at 7:01 am and started out with a low temp of 82 degrees! It was going to be a very hot day! The ride was setup at two loops, one for the mourning and another loop in the afternoon. The first loop was going to be 64 miles and then we finish off the 36 miles in the afternoon. It was a nice ride for the first 20 miles as we averaged a respectable 17 mph but we always tend to be faster at the beginning part of the ride as we are fresh and the heat hasn't zapped are energy yet! We tried to minimize stop time as much as possible, filling up the water bottles and moving on. It was temping to sit down but then I would not get back up so it was important not to rest too long.

The interesting part of these long rides is sometimes lost as I always focused on speed and not so much the scenery that I passed along the route. Since this ride was going to be slower I relaxed a bit and noticed more of the interesting points along the ride. At the 36 mile mark along West Rock Creek road we saw Stonehenge Estates complete with massive stone monoliths much like the ones at the real Stonehenge, a funny thing to see in that area of Missouri. There was a another interesting site as we rode in the valley of several miles of sod fields being watered and taking in the morning sun. It looked very much like what you see in the foot ball stadium accept on much larger scale. A plastic mesh protected the top of the sod (from what?) and it had a perfect painted color of green along the entire stretch for miles to see. The hills slowed us down and along with the two rest stops we managed to finish the first loop at 11:30. After a short rest and a quick bite to eat we were off for the afternoon loop of only 36 miles!

Since this was my 6th century of the year, and surprisingly my body has slowly adjusted to the long stress of riding 100 miles during the day. This ride was no different as I felt good on the second loop even with the higher temperature and more hills to climb, there was no acute soreness that would have stopped me going another an additional 20 to 30 miles more after the ride. I was a bit tired toward the end but that was too be expected. We finally rolled in around 2:30pm after 6.5 hours on the bike, punched in the time card and picked up our Sandy Creek patch for the ride. The ride was about as difficult as the July Steel Legs Century, although not as hot we still climbed over 11,000 feet and still manged a 15. 3 avg throughout the entire ride.

So, the end of the Century season is gone. It was a great year for riding, with the new bike and the newly purchased Garmin 305 I have been able to log some impressive mileage this year. I plan to get in some more rides this year but no more century rides. I look forward to the next year's century rides!

Red Horse

Brett