and my thoughts are: Once more unto the breach…

KING HENRY V:
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there’s nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour’d rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
Let pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon; let the brow o’erwhelm it
As fearfully as doth a galled rock
O’erhang and jutty his confounded base,
Swill’d with the wild and wasteful ocean.
Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide,
Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit
To his full height. On, on, you noblest English.
Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof!
Fathers that, like so many Alexanders,
Have in these parts from morn till even fought
And sheathed their swords for lack of argument:
Dishonour not your mothers; now attest
That those whom you call’d fathers did beget you.
Be copy now to men of grosser blood,
And teach them how to war. And you, good yeoman,
Whose limbs were made in England, show us here
The mettle of your pasture; let us swear
That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not;
For there is none of you so mean and base,
That hath not noble lustre in your eyes.
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game’s afoot:
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry ‘God for Harry, England, and Saint George!’

I have been inducted into the Furnace Creek Hall of Fame.  I feat that took five years.  Five Consecutive Solos and one Fixed Gear in 2007.  This year it’s time to just take a ride down memory lane.  I will enjoy my time on the bike and take in the sights and sounds of the greatest Ultra Cycling race I know!!

source

George Vargas
Newport Beach, CA

Furnace Creek 508 Hall of Fame
Class of 2011

And I leave you with this…we race 508 miles over 10 mountain passes for a cumulative gain of 35,000 feet through the Mojave and Death Valley Deserts for a jersey and a medal. Ok that’s the tangible thing but the intangibles of finding out what you are made of are priceless!

You can follow me on the race in many ways 

the 508 website will have a webcast here

My athlete Facebook Page here

my Spot GPS transmitter here  I will turn it one about 6am on 10/8/11 and you should be able to follow me on the race course.