Bicycle Races Are Coming Your Way

• Big ‘uns

  5/22/2008

  

  I’ve been accused of being a bit of a delinquent in updating this blog, So i guess I should get back to posting more regularly…

  The last month of racing has been a blast, and some big races came and went. Quick recap:

  Battenkill

  epic race. held on on the first climb. bonked. drank from dropped bottles i found on the way. no bacon.

  Jiminy

  

  Wet, fast, fun- 55 mph downhills? yes please! finished with the pack. felt good, but still no bacon. I really like this course. our team raced well and we were all pretty active in the race. I tried to go for it on the second lap, which was hilariously ineffective. the last section of the course involves going through a chicane, and its essential to have a good position going through it. i was well positioned, but the climb to the finish didn’t suite me that well– it was a longer finishing effort than i’m used to. The race was really well run, and to my surprise, there weren’t any crashes in the main cat 4 pack! I’m going to target this race next year, because like Schmalz, I too want one of those goddamn mugs!

  Bear.

  

  As my padded ass is still intimidated by actually racing bear, i decided to do what I did last year and signed up to marshal. However, last year i got a little over-zealous with the liquid carbo-loading, threw up, and woke up at 2 PM on race day. so pro.

  
  This year, i one-upped myself and actually made it to the race! I ended up being in the passenger seat of the men’s 40+ race. It was fun to be in a pace car and see the action unfold, but we had to deal with the joy of passing other fields, being passed by said field, and then passing the same field again. tons of fun. The weather was really nice this year at bear, and it made for a beautiful race day. after the pacing duty was done, i headed over to the feed zone to help keep my teammates who were in the race from bonking. It looked like a pretty brutal race. I think bear is a great example of how circumstance end external events play into racing. you can train all you want, you can follow your coach’s training plan to the T, but come race day, you can flat, you can bonk, you can get caught up in a crash, or a wealth of other circumstances beyond your control can get in your way. those variables are what bring variety and drama to what we do. it makes road racing more interesting than something like a track event, because there’s so many other forces at play. sure, its not as pure as two trackies racing it out- but those external events and circumstances are what make races like Paris-Roubaix and Battenkill so interesting. Hell, maybe this fall I’ll actually sign up to race @ bear…

  Now that bear has passed, there’s a bit of a lull. I’ve decided that 2008 is the year of decisions that I’ll immediately regret, which is why i signed up for Fitchburg and will also be doing GMSR. wahoo!

  This weekend i didn’t race. I had to head up to new Paltz for a teammate’s wedding. As part of the bachelor party festivities, we met up with my buddy Jason to go mountain biking through the local trails. (trust me, you do NOT want to go to the strip clubs in New Paltz, unless you’ve got a stretch mark fetish). He helps out at an awesome local shop there, and we rented some sweet bikes and headed for some trails.

  

  Mountain biking was insanely fun. almost pooped myself out of sheer excitement. the weather was perfect, and Jason took us through some great trails. extra bonus- Chad didn’t get impaled on any tree stumps, and showed up to the wedding relatively unharmed. i was really hoping i wouldn’t like mountain biking, because i am NOT going to get into yet another form of cycling- i need another bike like i need a hole in the head. five is enough, goddammit! I’ll definitely be making another trip up to new Paltz for more riding though. plus, the brewery we checked out after has awesome beer. bonus.

  This weekend also marks the unofficial start of the BBQ season- there’s nothing better than riding a ton in great weather and then undoing all the riding by engorging yourself on various meat products (aka croatian recovery) afterwards. there were two this weekend, and they both were fantastic- I’m really getting used to going to BBQ’s after every ride- this could be a bad thing…

  

  even with all this BBQing, i must be losing a buttload of weight. why, just this week i was able to fit into this women’s XS jersey- swear to god. well there you go, i’m a cross dresser now.

  CRCA race next weekend. bacon forecast- definitely possible.

  

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