Author: Marv

  • Always Be Tapering

    A week ago coming down Westham Station road, before we plowed up Panorama Drive, Faceplant said to no one in paticular “it’d be nice to see the sunrise on one of these runs” as he stared off over the Huguenot Bridge.

    He was right. It would be nice to see the sunrise as it seemed we were right in the sweetspot of a 6:15am peak above the horizon by the sun. Thus, YHC, sent 15 men over the Huguenot Bridge this morning in search of that picturesque scene that all of us could enjoy, despite the oppressive humidity.

    As it turns out, it was raining this morning.

    And also, I feel like we’ve missed the window for the sunrise, at least for the time being. Or maybe there really was never a window and the lights we saw last week were just the lights from the Huguenot Bridge. Either way, we’re going to have to wait to see the sunrise at another time.

    With the BRR this weekend, YHC thought it’d be a good idea to give everyone a nice, flat, tapering run to get all those participating in peak physcial shape for their mountainous journey Friday & Saturday. (For the first timers, the best route is the one that starts in Boone and heads down the mountain…especially if you get to do it in the middle of the night. Actually, all middle of the night runs are really cool).

    The route–The basic up river route. 22:30 out and 22:30 back. Bat cave to Huguenot Bridge…right on the ramp off the bridge then a left on Riverside. That takes the 6s to Rustic, which sucks out loud when you take it up. Then we all come back to the parking lot.

    Faceplant reminded everyone of the Beer Mile on the 29th of October.

  • That Thursday that No One Signed Up to Q

    Coming off a Q-Less RAMM on the 29th of July, 45 MOM wouldn’t be outdone as it was Q-Less as well. (Speaking of “XXX-less” I highly recommend “Smartless” if you are into podcasting and you like to laugh.)

    I’m pretty sure Hutton took the first 20, Chippendale the next 20 and YHC took us home. I do remember making everyone do two (2) Richard Kimballs…which truly are the worst.

    Tough couple of days for Proud Mary…being left at the altar by the google doc. Fortunately she had better days ahead.

  • One Day in July When No One Showed to Lead

    What do you do when 17 men show up on a July Friday to trundle around the City of Richmond and no one is there to lead them? From what I remember (it was over a month ago) I’m pretty sure everyone went their own way on this Q-Less Friday.

    The 6s did the Bodo’s Run…which takes you through Windsor Farms then down Pocahontas to Hillcrest. Couple of loops around Hillcrest then back up Charmain. Charmain turns to West Moreland and then you hairpin on Locke. Locke to Dover and then back to the flag. It’s the Bodo’s Run because there’s always some consternation from our friend named after the bagel shop when we run it as a group.

    Not sure what anyone else did.

  • A Left then A Right then a Left…

    It had been a decent spell since we traversed the difficult terrain of Mt. Henrico (or “Henricus” as they called it in the ancient times). Nevertheless, with the humidity pulsating and the heat rising, 16 men decided to grab our inner-sherpas, forget the debate between WordPress and Slack for 45 minutes and trundle to the peak of this wonderful county of ours.

    Here’s how you get to Mt. Henrico from the parking lot…

    A left. A right. A left. A left. A right. A Right. A left. A right. A left. A left. A right (5s, jump down to then next line) A left. (4s turn around and double back to the flag).

    A left. A right. A left. (6s double back to the flag)

  • Better Late than Never

    LockJaw didn’t show up on this day (August 27th) either to give us a route. Can’t really remember the routes taken by the group but I think it was pretty much a freestyle. Splinter, Faceplant and YHC ran the Bodos inspired Windsor Farm run.

    And that’s all I have to say about that.

    Sorry, sort of for waiting so long to post. For you Big Data people I know that it’s annoying.

  • He’s Like Yellow Dog from Funny Farm

    Every now and then there’s a reference that is simply too good not to mention on the BackBlast. Yes, Chevy Chase is known for much, much more than his role in the very pedestrian movie “Funny Farm”. But he made it during at time when he was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, coming off blockbusters like the Vacation franchises and Fletch.

    So those of us who are a certain age all saw “Funny Farm.” From what I can remember, I was very underwhelmed. Needless to say, it’s not one that I’m dying to show my 14yo (unlike Fletch, Vacation and, at some point after he’s 16, the un-edited version of Caddyshack”.

    I do remember one pretty funny part of the movie and that was the continual plot thread of the yellow dog just running around the Chase’s property. This morning, out of nowhere as the gloom was beginning to lift, Big Tennessee brought out the ultimate of late 80s references comparing Saab to “Yellow Dog from Funny Farm”. It was right on the mark and a truly classic line.

    And classic lines should be written about in the bACKbLAST.

    No LockJaw today so we were kind of on our own to make up a route. The group was leaning towards Reverse Carrilon, but instead decided to head north towards Monument Avenue.

    4’s–Up Commonwealth, east on Monument, turn around at Boulevard, back to the flag.

    5’s–same thing to Monument, turn around at Strawberry, back to the flag.

    6’s–same thing to Monument, turn around at the circle where the Robert E. Lee statue was once located.

    Saab–Just running around like Yellow Dog in Funny Farm.

    You guys have a good weekend.

  • Deal with the Carillon

    A lively and plucky bunch, most of whom were looking for some relief of the humidity by way of a bicycle, showed up at Mary Munford’s Elementary School on Friday. It’s been really, really hot lately…like, the kind of heat that when you walk outside you just get mad. It’s August, so it’s really no one’s fault that it is so hot, but when someone recommended an Amateur RAMM Gears, it seemed to make sense to a good amount of people.

    YHC originally signed up to lead the PAX on a jog around the near west end…maybe a new route that no one would follow, maybe an old route that no one follow, maybe something that no one has any idea what it is. Upon hearing from Splinter on Thursday that there was an Amateur RAMM Gears on Friday, YHC figured most would be up for that and the runners would be a small number (as they’ve been lately at Munford).

    So YHC borrowed a bike from a buddy and woke up five minutes earlier than normal to tighten up the seat and get it into the car. Why didn’t I do all that the night before? I’m not sure, but I’ll keep that in mind this fall when I get on my 14yo so about being lazy.

    Or maybe I won’t.

    Anyway, shockingly, the bike didn’t originally fit in the back of the 2015 Honda Accord. Who saw that coming? After a few tries I decided to see if I could open the window and stick the wheels out. Sure enough, that worked. Eureka! Of course, that left 7 minutes to get to Munford, normally a 9 minute drive. So YHC did about 75 down River and up Cary…smart move.

    Fortunately, I didn’t get caught behind any lights or slow cars and pulled in with about 45 seconds to spare to give the runners…of which there were more than normal…the route. “Carillon”. That was met with some considerable consternation, for reasons passing understanding. YHC feels like it’s been a bit since we’ve run that nostalgic route.

    So off they go and YHC grabs his bike and begins the breeze feeling RAMM Gears Amateur hour. About 50 yards into the trip one of the more experienced Gear guys mentions that I have a flat tire and “You’re not going anywhere on that thing.”

    Nice.

    Dumped the bike, went for a reverse carillon run, YHC thinking I’d meet up with the regular carillon runners who, you know, theoretically should be running in my direction. Yet I never ran into them. No one saw that coming.

    Awesome to have 25 guys out there in some way shape or form. Next time, Saab, I’ll put together a new and intricate route that will make up for this one.

  • Better Late than Never (Vol 2)

    Again, it’s not that I’m lazy, it’s just that I don’t feel like posting most of the time.

    Showed up on this day and we didn’t have a Q.

    Unsure where the 4s and 5s went (possibly Reverse Carrilon).

    6s went into Windsor Farms and then to Hillcrest…back through Windsor Farms. (We call the this the “Bodo’s Route” as Bodo’s one-time referenced it from the Pulpit on a Sunday morning. High praise right there.

  • Better Late than Never (Vol. 1)

    Four weeks after a Q isn’t all that long to wait to post the wrap up. In my defense, we were without a sign-up Q, so YHC took the reigns.

    There’s obviously some responsibility that I shirked while taking the reigns (“shirked” is a fun word to write, and say)…but here it is on a Saturday morning making sure everyone’s Big Data numbers stay true to form, as we know how important those are.

    The Thang…

    Reverse Carrilon (we got super creative)

    Dueces everyone.

  • Splinter Mountain (w/Patti)

    The Monday rain paved the way for a clean and pollen free jaunt around the hills of the Tuckahoe/Tuckahoe/Freeman district. After a couple of relatively flat Q’s the past couple of weeks at Spider Run, YHC decided to add some of the vaunted undulations of this part of the River City.

    While we have conquered Mt. Henrico a fair amount of times, I’m not sure we’ve ever hit the peak of Splinter Mountain (around 1 miles south of Mt. Henrico).

    Named Splinter Mountain because the 6s run by the domicile of Splinter…here’s The Thang…

    Head to the baseball field…go North and then to the parking lot. Get out to College Rd and head South.

    Take a right on University Ave and take that all the way up to Ralston. Right on Ralston, Left on University Drive.

    From there University Drive turns into a driveway and leads to someone’s house…but also a trail. Knock on the door…Patti will provide coffee and words of encouragement.

    Take the Trail down the hill into the scenic Countryside neighborhood.

    4s…get to the bottom of the hill and return the way you came…until you get to Westham. Left on Westham. Right on Lakewood. Lakewood to College, back by the baseball field and back to the flag.

    5s…get to the bottom of the hill and take a Right on Roslyn Hills. That goes to the top of a hill and you go left on Mellwood. Mellwood to Roslyn Hills…Roslyn Hills to the trail…past Patti’s house to Westham. Left on Westham, right on Beechwood…to Wood…to Lakewood and back in.

    6s….get to the bottom of the hill and take a right on Roslyn Hills. That turns into Countryside. Take a right on Ruggles and RUN BY SPLINTER’s HOUSE…thus, to the top of Splinter Mountain. Turnaround at the end and head back Ruggles to Roslyn Hills. Left on Roslyn Hills, back up the trail, say hi to Patti, then back the way we came in.

    The 6s got a bit sideways as YHC took a pretty decent spill right after seeing Patti the first time. A female walker was coming up the hill and YHC pretty much just bit it right in front of her, rolling an ankle pretty badly. The walker really didn’t break stride despite someone biting it right in front of her. To her credit, I bet it scared the fool out of her.

    It was fun to Q again…hopefully the swelling will go down.

    Y’all have a great day.