Greetings all,
As a four year CNC veteran, I enjoy reading the board but, there are some issues which are continually posted that drive me a bit batty, so I thought I would vent...

1) Weather- For all the amateur meteorologists out there who can only seem to predict rain- SHUT UP! For one thing, we're never in one spot more than 12-18 hours so trying to predict the weather for the entire seven day ride is not possible.

1a) If you can't find the CAPS LOCK key on your keyboard and use proper capitalization, why should we believe what you say about anything?

2) Terminology- For the record- it is called CYCLING! Not biking. Biker's wear leather, sport tattoos and ride motorcycles. CYCLISTS wear lycra (with some exceptions) and pay outrageous money for jerseys that advertise (mostly) European companies and ride bicycles under their own power.

3) Training- Even though CNC advertises "From the mountains to the sea" you'll climb very few mountains. Aside from the ride out of Sparta on day one of the ’04 CNC, the "tough" days are usually two and three. You won't be climbing Alpe D' Huez on those days but you will be up-and-down a number of medium rollers until we clear the Western Piedmont.

3a) For those that think days five, six, and seven are boring... au contraire! After four days of rollers you can, if you want, really hammer the flats on the coastal plain of NC.

4) Packing. Pack sensibly and remember the adage "better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it". Take it easy on the cold weather gear- temps in NC are very mild until late November- arm warmers and a light pair of tights are sufficient. Could we hit a cold snap or a rainy period (such as '05)? Sure, but odds are against it. The only chill we may experience may be in Banner Elk, after that it should be quite nice.

All for now and thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

CNCTNT