Getting home from Vegas on Friday night and finally getting to bed at 1:15am is never good even if you are not racing the next day. I only had to go to work at 8am though. Sit and answer the phone and watch some YouTube videos on the 'net.
Our team clothing arrived while in Vegas so that needed to be sorted and bagged for everyone. Dash rode over to work and that made it go a bit quicker. Went and had a team dinner at the Cheeky Monk, handed out clothing and drank some Hoegaarden.
Sunday morning and it is a little brisk out. Not Belgium weather yet, but heading in that direction. Meet up with Brian and we ride the 1 hr out to the race course. Figure it is better to get a long road ride in since I have not been on the bike since last weekends race. Get half way out there and I am already thinking of the excuses:
- Have not been on the bike in a week
- Walking around "the show" and on my feet for 3 straight days
- Travelling half the night to get home
- My new little guy has a cold...does my throat feel funny?
- New clothing - the rule is "never race in new clothing..you are bound to crash"
- My legs feel like cement and can barely turn over the pedals even though it is downhill
Once we get to the course and take a few laps, the legs still feel bad but starting to come around. The course is typical Colorado course, dry and fast this time of year. Nice quick start up the bike path, run around the outside of the volleyball course, down some singletrack up the big run up, rutted with rocks, up another slight hill and a double barrier. Some really cool twisting downhill singletrack back to the bike path. The race ended with that run around the volleyball court.
I line up at the back since I have many excuses at this point. Through the first lap and I am riding top 20 and moving up. Second lap in and something is not right. Start down the twisty singletrack and then I feel it...all sqirmy and loose underneath me....damn, I am getting a flat tire. Since we rode out, there are no spare wheels today....and our main sponsor is a wheel company!!! Ride another 2 laps and people are passing me by like I really do have a flat tire. It is holding air but you cant hit any rock or it bottoms out. No need to damage the wheels only 5 races into the season.
Lap counter say's 3 to go and I am thinking, I can make it around 3 more times. Down the quickdown hill into a sharp right hander that has more sand than Seal Beach and the whole bike just disappears from under me. I never go down but it is all over the place at this point. Run up the big hill with gusto only so I can make myself feel better knowing that I will have my first DNF in two and half years. Lucky for me it is not a points race, so it is only training at this point.
Limp back to the start/finish area and there is Dash standing on the sidelines with a flat tire. Brain finishes 24th and when he get's home he has a flat tire also. In the SM4's race, Ryan finishes on a flat tire, he too just home from the show. Mike has a great ride and finishes 24th also. John and Pete are racing the uber competitive SM3's and finished mid pack. The 3's and 35 Open are by far the toughest fields in the state.
Up next, double points races in Frisco and then a road trip to Gunnison, some 4 hrs from Denver for a weekend of racing.
No comments:
Post a Comment