Sunday after a possible cancelled ride. Nitro Ken shows up at Ingles and follows behind  me as I search for a Mother Days gift for Terry. The Birds, Dawgs, follow the Women all over the place when I am at home. Noah's animals are at my house now and Terry feeds all of them. Ken walks behind me for about ten minutes until I findly turn around and look and he says I ready to ride. OK!  I figure we would cancel today due to the weather. Know chance! Big Daddy Vic, Laina, Ken, Terry, myself took 63 hardcore miles with plenty of climbing and wind. BDV and Laina rode a century the day before. BDV dropped us with 5 miles to go back home. The rides name today was called  Oatmeal Creme Pie loop due to Big Daddy's Vic's hitting the wall at 40 miles. The Oatmeal creme pie recharged his engine once again. Terry showed us all how to pull and Ken just kept his motor rolling over every hill. Thanks Guys.
Happy Mother's Day to Kit, Gail, Sharon, Veronica, Mary M, Mary K, Terry, Ande, Terry B, Jennifer, Patty, ?Peter, Woody, Rob, Jeremy, the guys that did not show up. 
Happy Creme Pie. 
Gas! Think about commuting to work! Start now with a Kon UTE.
Big Daddy Vic, Ken, Terry. Thanks Ken for getting us out. Looks like  Dunwoody has the numbers this year once again. Thanks Mike

 Mary, Mike B, Woody preparing for his Italian vacation.

Mike B leading the pack up the climb. Mary, Kevin, Woody, Terry, Mike P. Big Daddy Vic. Laina, Joe Knows, did not show. What about Larry? Were is Larry? A reward id out for Larry. Peter had a Bruce Springsteen Hangover.
Smiles for everyone.
The Gang from Gainesville Flordia. These have some of the best trails in Northern Flordia. 
The Bikes are super nice!  Great Shot!
Big Daddy Vic is preparing for 3 State 3 MT. looking Good!

Stage 5 of the Tour Day Georgia was amazed when the riders entered Little Italy at Doublehead Gap in NorthEast Ellijay. Cartecy Bike Shop put on a show. CBS lead two rides at 9:00 AM from the Big Creek  Fire Station. A twenty one mile loop that finished on the climb of Doublehead Gap. 8:00 AM was my start time preparing the encampment of Little Italy.  A relationship of a story direct from Italy to make the fans and  riders feel at home. The Italian tent was set up on one side of the road while Marco showed up with additional tents and food on the other side of the road. We have two grills putting out plenty of food. Pizza on the grill along with Bartwust, Beer, Sodas, water, chips and salsa, trail mix and the list keeps going. The price? Priceless and no one was begging or crying about the event.  Everybody enjoyed our event.  The Drama Queens stayed at home and that is fine with me. The true cyclist from Florida, Mississippi, Atlanta, Alabama, were here to stay and have fun. A special Thanks to our ride leader Kevin, Doc D for helping out Lawerce and for the SUMC Cycling guys for supporting our ride. While waiting around for three and half hours we displayed a few Palmeri Carbon frames along with some Coppi's, Ciocc's, Debernardi's. This was food and a bike show. Toddie Bear with hair showed up with the Cartecay colors. Doug The Hit Man Stein came into town ready to win every Mountain Bike race this year. John C showed his photo skills. Mr Beam was beaming all day.  Tom and The Florida Dawgs were hot and ready for action.  We started off with two and we ended up almost a hundred peps. Cycling News talked about us on there stage five reporting. 11 Alive news has a video clip of three guys coming down Burnt Mt with our colors. The Tour Day Georgia Photo on the website stage five has a great shot of all of us. The Mavic vehicle stopped and gave everybody  cow bells to cheer the riders on. The TDG gave everybody Velo News mags and stuff just kept coming. This was the place for entertainment. Too bad you missed it. I hope these guys make it back next year. Help TDG get sponsorship. Help! We need to keep this event as a annual event for the surival of cycling in the State of Georgia. Write your congress Man or Woman.  Plenty of photos to come. 
Let it Fly! Setting up!
Eddie B GOOD! and Marco waiting for the crowd that we about to recieve.
Eddie B GOOD! Made a dream come true. Eddie and I are old friends from 1980's. Eddie B knows Carbon Fiber better than Ben and Jerry Ice cream.  May intrduce you to the Italian made Palmeri Carbon Frames Thanks to Eddie B. The frames will blow you away. Stunning, Beautiful performance for people who want to break out of the mold of mass produced everyday named products. The Palmeri products have Three generations of stories to tell.  A historical value  that is unique and will always be a conversation piece at every ride you go on. When people talk about fit. The frame should fit you first before you are even fitted on any bike. be careful about the Black Magic of bike fit. Make sure the frame (The Heart and Soul of the bicycle fits you first). A product that is custom for you and you only.  Big Joe my Father would be proud. Big Daddy Vic, Joe, Victor JR, Anthony, Joe, Chris, Terry, Margarite, Carla, Sean, and our Big  brother Joseph who passed away in 1985 . Big Bro Joseph was our first to commute to work in the early 1970's.  Three generations and all these guys race bikes from BMX, Road, Mountain Bikes, Cyclocross. The Palmeri name was at the First Mountain Bike Race in the SouthEast, We started the First Cyclocross races in Ellijay, The First 12 our race, The First SouthEastern Mountain Bike Festival and had our old Friend Gary Fisher show  up and race. The first to introduce the Holiday rides and still promote the rides today.  The Mountain Bike Capital of Georgia. Provided the route for the Tour Day Georgia when the race first strated. We The Plameri's have a dedciated passion for cycling and will continue to provide fun rides and products for people that want to be unique. Passion! The P in Palmeri means Passion and its been around the block for many years. Thanks for listening. Thanks Eddie!
Appropriate appreciation from Mountain Bike Legend Doug Stein, Toddie Bears hero. Jeremy you need one these Dawg.  By the way were was Ken, Peter, Woody?
The First rider of the Day. Anna Banana flying the Cartecay Proud to be and American color jersey.
Kevin with TDG escort up the climbs keeping him out of harms way.
TDG Route crew who gave us plenty of cool stuff to give away. Velo News, Jelly beans, Stickers and lots of Love. You guys missed it. Larry, Kit, Mary, Gail? jeremy? No coach needed.Eddie B you look good. The Palmeri Polo brings out your color!
Second up the climb Doc D and Ron Z from the Adventure Race are here for the best seats in the house. 
The SUMC Boys were happy and ready to eat. Great guys and I am glad to meet them. Kevin was showing off the Palmeri's.
Take note the crowd is building. Watch Out!
Check it out, Smiles everywhere.
Man! Cow Bells coming from Mavic awesome stuff and everybody got one. Hush Boy? Pretty Ladies in the house! 
Marco celebrates with his new toy, The Mavic Cow Bell!
THE FLORIDA DAWGS FROM STUART!  Thanks TOM!
The Crowd is building! Watch Out!
The Man with all of the Hair Toddie Bear working the climb of Doublehead Gap. Todd looks great! What! A Smile up the climb by the Bear. 
Dan The Editor man from Pickens. Dan has the power of the pen and he is a positive influence for cycling. Hey Dan teach our local Editor how to write and expose it to cycling.
Once again the crowd builds while the Pizza is hot off the grill.
United Community Bank Truck passing out Money.
Everybody stopped.
The Racers are coming up the Gap.
The riders are chasing four up ahead by 8 minutes.
These are the guys in the break that the group was chasing.
Check it out, close up in action.
Back of the pack struggles to make it up Doublehead Gap a sleeper in the Tour Day Georgia. People say this is not the Gaps, Oh Well I would say come and learn your lesson. Give us a chance to Humble you.
Even the Cuban Missile needed the Angels of the Mountains today. Doublehead Gap will turn your legs to rubber and fast. This Man will not sprint for the win today.
Jittery Joe's trying hard on the climb. Good Job Dawg. The Joe's Boys were here training a month ago. I got the chance to meet the boys and talk about the race last month. Great guys and we should support Jittery Joe's by buying the coffee.
Jelly Belly Boys riding the GT road bikes. 
Tyler having a bad day. My hat is off to this man he is still trying to do good. Let  it fly Dawg.
This was the last riders to tackle Doublehead Gap. A hard day out. My hat gentleman. Good Job!
  Rock Racing Team leader Cesar Grajales, Nano, and the Chief Tom Palmer. A cup of Jittery Joe's in the morning with the guys and off to the VIP Bus. Thanks Tom for the coffee and meeting Cesar and Nano of Rock Racing.
Cesar's Machine is ready to Rock! Over and out on the climbs. Thanks Mike

We had several folks that showed up during the winter months on our Chili Dawg rides and it look like the rides paid off for everybody. Thanks for coming out. A few friends I would like you guys to meet.Brian The King had a fight with the guard rail today. The King still came in like a champion. Brian use to ride a Moots YBB. Maybe one day he will ride one again. Brian's Lady Patty did a hundred and she ready to go for another lap. That is what happens when you ride the Chili Dawg rides.

The Florida Dawgs, Steve B,  Flat land CV after 65 miles of hills. These guys ride on beach front property. Great job guys. Steve is and old Dawg on mine. 
This is Erik from Bridgeport CT, Erik needed a couple of crank bolts Friday. Kevin hooked up Erik and he rode a hundred miles like nobodies business. Erik had friends from Denver, and I can remember the other place. Erik this is what Mountain Biking is about Friends, Fun. Thanks for coming down Dawg. Great Finish and look at the smile:)
The Crew waiting for riders to finish. Big Daddy Vic, Kevin, Joe, Larry with his feet.
I got the chance to meet Randy from Blairsville Bikes and Boards, and Lyle from Spin Lite Bikes. These guys volunteer there time during the race. Great job and Thanks for your help. 
Bike of the day. Check out the piant job.
Beautiful colors.
The Chef Terry cooked eight birds for everbody to enjoy. Special Thanks to Kit, Mary, for the extras. Mulberry Gap was also with EMBA at the Sag stop and Gene and Diane are always doing a great job supporting Mountain Bikers. Thanks Ladies.
The Legend Daveyboy telling his story about Floyd Landis during the climb and all of our ears are open. Chewey is even giving Daveyboy kisses:)
The Mouth! Bruce The Man DICKMAN. The only person I know who can Talk as much as Bruce is? Guess Who and win a t-shirt.
The Dawg over and out. Thanks for listening we had a great time. Thanks to Barb for all her hard work for this event.

Allow me!  A very special Thank You to The Ellijay Mountain Bike Club for the Sag stop work. Marco, Kit, James, Mary Mills worked hard to provide a wonderful stop for the 100 mile racers. People kept coming up to me saying Thank You Mike for the Sag support by EMBA! I proud of all you guys. The Volunteer work EMBA does for all the trails in the North Georgia community is astonishing. My hat off to you guys.  EMBA and the Bike Shop add so much value to the County. I would also like to Thank Terry for her wonderful job as the Chef.  I am proud of Sambo, Joe, Laina for the 65 miler race. Sambo and Joe finished 21,22. Larry, Mary, Kevin, Robert, Big Daddy Vic raced hard in the 35 and we had some problems with the conditions and they rocked on. DaveyBoy:) ! Made history as well as JIm Superman Stone proved he ride 100 miles and finish with a smile. The Mavericks worked while the MOOTS 29ERS kicked major tail Thanks to Kevin's mechanical  work on the wheels and bike. The Santa Cruz Superlights are back and made the MUD turn to water and finished high in the standings Thanks to Mary and Laina. The we use work no problems. Big Daddy did have a problem! The 35 race gave him three flats, BDV did help a lady who had a broken chain. Thanks BDV. Larry was the Hero for the day making the Emergency call for Suzie on Boyd Gap for medical attention. Thanks Larry you are a special man.  Scott The Hammertree rode  his 22.5 lB Turner in the 100 miler and finished strong and under his time limit. Remember this one. No TI disc rotors a lesson learned by MR. Weight. I have close to 63 pic's. I will start with this  one first and the story behind it this evening. Bird watching this morning.
More to come Dawg! History in the making yesterday. Legends are made on Days like at the Cohutta 100. Old friend Skip Murphy would have  been proud of Daveyboy.  Daveyboy has legendary status in the record books with the Old Skipper. DaveyBoy trained for eight weeks riding the Cohutta Death March every weekend.  I called Daveyboy at 3:00 AM Saturday morning to tell him to install his Scottoiler due to the muddy conditions. Daveyboy called me back and said I have been riding in snow, mud, Hell or High water and I will be fine.  Over thirty years of riding and racing from Baltimore Maryland Daveyboy deserved a result we will never forget.  During the race at the first check point we heard that Daveyboy was in twentieth place. Daveyboy worked with local  legend Greg Turner for while, but Greg had the power to ride away and win the fifty and over class. Good job Greg. The big surprise was when Floyd Landis and Daveyboy started a long climb together. That is right the former Tour Day France winner and Daveyboy started a climb together. Any body that knows Daveyboy can perdict what would happen on this climb. Image The Tour Day France winner and you on a climb in your back yard. Every time I have ridden with Daveyboy he would drop dead to stay in front me finishing a climb. No one beats Daveyboy to the top of the Mountain.  May be nine out of ten times Floyd would crush Daveyboy, but not today. Today was Daveyboy's day.  Daveyboy with high RPM's left Floyd Landis on the climb.  During the climb Floyd told Daveyboy to shift down your RPM's are way to high!  I can tell you just added more fuel to the fire and Daveyboy's legs just kicked up even faster. Daveyboy finished fourteen minutes ahead of Landis and waited for Floyd to finish. Landis showed character as he finished the race and just wanted to sit in the river and gave Daveyboy a hug and said you are one Hell of rider. Landis said this was the race he had ever competed in and it was hard. I respect this guy  for  being a humble competitor. I would like to say that Greg Turner beat Landis and Daveyboy. Turner in my book is a great competitor who shows up to many races and gets the job done and still has time to speak and be friendly everybody. This is leader in our sport. Thanks for being a leader and I hope many follow Mr. Turner.  Daveyboy I could hear the Old Skipper voice today descending down Thunder Rock screaming "Go  You Big Italian Sausage Go! Watch That Sharp Right Mike" I heard his voice today and I am sure you heard him to. Today was your Day Daveyboy and we will miss you. Skipper and Daveyboy Legends of North Georgia Mountain Biking. 
DaveyBoy and Tour Day France winner Floyd Landis taking a bath with a beer together, we still have the beer bottle they used.Mary was our first finisher of the day. Mary kicked butt. Check out her smile and the mud on her bike.
A wonderful smile after a hard days work. Good job Mary!
Mary's machine made it all the way with no problems Thanks to the Kilo Wrench Kevin.  OH! YOU DID NOT KNOW! This is a Santa Cruz Superlight Jeremy.
Nitro Ken, Punk Peter, Silk Sheets Woody were not here today? What happen Dawg's?
Lucky Larry The Leprechaun was here today and he rode like he was on a four leaf clover with his Maverick ML7. Kevin greets Larry after he finished the race with a smile. 
Lucky Larry The Leprechaun shows off his double waterbottle connection.
Ready for a toe massage. Good job Larry.
Sambo was our first 65 miler finisher and showed a strong sprint at the end. Chain suck slowed the Bo down a little but he overcame the problem and still came threw with a strong finish. I would say Sambo is a Four Horseman.Sambo after he completed 65 miles in the mud still looking fresh. A great for Sambo a very strong man.
Joe Knows he needs to ride with Sambo because they came in one right after another. Joe had a Coke and smile after he finished along some Brazlin Chicken.
Joe and his Father Big Daddy Vic :)
Sambo and Joe before the 65 race.
Big Daddy Vic finished the 35 with a five mile walk down Thunderrock. Three flats caused his misery. The BDV felt really good today but he needed a little Larry in his blood. BDV did manage to help a young lady repair her chain and she left BDV to walk alone to the finish. The Boy Scout award goes to BDV and Lucky Larry Today.
My hat is off to Laina. I did not understand why she did 65 miles. Now I do and we are all proud of Laina. Laina gets four points for the Sorella ladies team today. I notice three Sorellas that do our Chili Dawg rides. Laina was smiling all the way since she started. Once again great job Laina. I should have known you can do what ever you mind tells you. Way to go Girl. 4 points Woooo!
Laina once again. Cool under fire.
The 100 milers are in. The Scott Hammertree is back and hungry. We know TI rotors suck. Scott kicked major tail today on his Turner Nitro. light weight Dawg. More to come in the morning. Jim  Stone took control of his dream and made it happen. Jim rode a hundred miles on a Maverick. A big smile on his face.
Tab T DaveyBoy's teammate finished the 100 on his new Moots 29ER with no problems Thanks to Kevin Kilo Wrench.
Monty did a hundred! he is in a class C uniform.  We need to work on Monty. We still gave Monty a piece of chicken.
 

 The past two days, a disappointed rider made negative statements about the Italian Festival road ride.  Two sides to a story. I apologized to the gentleman three times.  I am finished with e-mailing back and forth. Problem. Before you make a statement behind a computer terminal? I would make a person to person contact or a simple phone call to discuss any situation. I promote several bike rides a year and this is the first time for a negative response.  One word. Coward of controversy.  Mano E Mano is the way I handle my problems. Hiding behind a computer and making false declarations about people begging for food is dishonorable. People that know me never go hungry and always have fun on the bike rides. Six and half hours to do a forty mile route. Maybe this was not a good choice for this gentleman. This was a bicycle ride.  The complaints were taken to heart and I will try to improve our ride for next year. I will not have a bathroom at every corner and please no Drama Queens. The rides we promote are hard and beautiful. Phyiscal fitness! Pre Prior Planning.  Believe me I have learned a lesson on this one.  Thanks for everyones support. I now know who my friends are. I still have a bone to pick with a local bike shop empolyee who should have kept his comments closed. If you do not have anything nice to say keep your mouth shut. This was a Cartecay Cycling Club event.  My name is Mike Palmeri and I take full responsibility for this event.  Thanks for listening.   Moving on to our April 25, 2008 Tour De Georgia route. Warning! Please be ready for a hard ride. 
Nobody goes hungry in my camp.
Family and Food.