We arrived in downtown Blacksburg around 8pm - just in time for some dinner, drinks and pool at the old standby, The RiverMill (or LiverKill). It was a great night, and what made it better was running into my old friend Ben. I last saw Ben when I was in Salida Colorado in 2002 while riding the Great Divide MTB Route. He and another good friend, Angie, had met me in Salida to hang out for a day before I hit the trail again. Anyway, we lost touch after that and it was great catching up over some brown ales.
Saturday's plan was to ride our mountain bikes to the game from C-Burg (about 7 miles), then party until they kick us out and ride back. So, I get a call in the a.m. from my buddy D-Rob, who used to live in the Burg. He was up for the weekend and told me to stop on the way to the game by the Tech Airport. So, we rode from Tony's to the airport and...
D-Rob and I jumped in a Cessna and flew a loop around Blacksburg just before the game. I didn't have a good camera with me, but I had my cell. Here's a pic I took showing Lane Stadium and much of the VT Campus.
Or better yet, how about a closer pic of the stadium with the flight crew!
and lastly, here's the stadium view while we're swinging around to land...
The whole flight took us around 25 minutes. After we landed, D-Rob was going to take Kevin and Dan up for a loop, but some guy on the radio warned us of the temporary flight restriction beginning at 11am. It was 11:05am, so Kevin and Dan were bumped until next time. Sorry guys.
After the flight, we headed into town for some Gillie's Breakfast - a tradition I've continued since graduation. It was there, that we met with Kevin's girl and then separated. Dan and I rode to the game, D-Rob watched it at the LiverKill, and Kevin walked with his female companion to the game.
We were an hour late, about half way through the second quarter of the game. Game tied at 7. Then UVA drops another 7 on us and we shake it off over Halftime with swigs of Jager. In the 3rd, Tyrod Taylor has an awesome 70 yard scramble to the 10 yard line of UVA, which led to a tying touchdown. VT's defense shut out UVA in the second half and VT won by tapping in a short-yardage field goal in the fourth. final score VT 17 : UVA 14!
Somehow, after a tumultuous and painful to watch season, VA Tech is going to the ACC Championship (again). It will be a rematch against Boston College this Saturday. -Party at my house!!! (in case you haven't heard, though, I'm unemployed.So it'll be a BYO Everything event.) I'll have the HD ready.
After the game, we had a good meal at Bogens with Kevin's family (providers of the tix), and the rest of the night was spent nonsensing around Blacksburg on the bikes... At 1am, Dan reminded me that we had to ride the bikes back to Tony's. It was spitting freezing rain and the wind beat on us like Peter Griffin beats on Chickens.
After a short grumbling, we headed to Gumby's Pizza for a quick meal. I worked there for years while at Tech. My buddy, Joe (the GM) was still there, or had returned, so we caught up and he let me make a pie. It was great to hand toss and make my own pizza again but not great enough to do it for a job again. Dan and I sat and ate and then braved the inevitable trip back. Luckily, we planned well and brought lights, but... mine died and we we're half blind in the rain at 3am... Still, though, a great time. Since it was raining (and we were slacking) we bailed on the Sunday mountain ride and opted to sleep in and hit Gillies for brunch before heading home. Ah yes, one last meal from my favorite place in Blacksburg.
So - it was a great trip. I wish I could say that I'm going to the ACC Championship game, but...$$ no mas. I hope you all had a great Holiday Weekend!
