TGIF - 6/27/08

Another week in the books - the first "official" week of summer at that. This morning the "park closes at sunset" sign at Patapsco State Park said that time was 8:30pm. Sunlight until almost 9pm ... I love this time of year ! I hear some cyclists complaining about the heat or the sun but I tell ya, I will take that over cold and dreary any day of the week. I like it hot, you see. Come on, that was too easy. Sigh.

I didn't do Greenbelt this week per the advice of the coach, aka Slavedriver, so I have no stories of sketch riders, random singing during the race or irrational outbursts after the race. I told the coach that after nationals, I'm thinking I could use a little break and The Slavedriver expressed pleasant surprise .... I then informed him that a break would probably entail a group ride or two during the week along with greenbelt, then racing on the weekend. He reiterated his thought that he'd have to steal all my bikes in order to enforce a week off the bike. I can't help it ... OCD is part of the sport.

I've been fielding inquiries all over the place about my scooter, scooters in general and exactly how much does it cost to fill up the tank ($7). A recent article in the Baltimore Sun covered scooter-mania ... also known as the-price-of-gas-is-killing-us-revolution. I'm seeing more and more scooters out on the road by the day ... its kinda funny 'cause its like this secret club. They usually beep their horns at each other or something equally amusing. Its kinda like the Jeep motto: You Wouldn't Understand. I'm personally excited about the new top case/box I just bought for mine - it attaches to the back of the scooter and can hold a bunch of stuff. A constant problem for me has been that my helmet doesn't fit in the under-seat compartment so this new box will get the job done. Awesome. (loved this pic - goes along with my penchant for acronyms. This is for you, Michelle!)

I have saved the best for last - we have ourselves a ROAD TRIP this weekend !! A couple CycleLife gals are headed to ... Kentucky. If you told me a year ago I'd be excited about a trip to Kentucky, I'd have laughed at you. Nothing negative meant toward Kentucky, its just ... not a destination of choice for me. Of course, you all know this is the location for Nationals next week, so we're loading up more bikes, more trainers and more lycra than any one car should hold and we're taking a little drive to see what we can see. We've rented a house near the city and near the courses so, as is par for us, we're gonna make an adventure out of it. Hopefully we'll come back with some good stories, pictures and a little hardware.

TOWC and Kryptonite

Its Tuesday and I'm still tired from the weekend. Thats my excuse, anyway. TOWC was an awesome weekend of racing, despite some gaffes and snafus that made things a little more interesting than I normally like. Lapped women who get counted in the finish, TT times that are 3+mins off (still not sure that was settled correctly), omitting women from the sprint finish at Sunday's crit ... all of that sucks but the race itself was good fun. AVC did a phenomenal job in the inaugural year and given the light race schedule from here on out, we should be THANKFUL for their time and effort to promote a race of this scale. Looking forward to next year's edition!

The RR was not as bad as I had envisioned - I had nightmares about being left on the "big climb" but was right with the front girls almost every time. The break that got up the road was a mental mistake - I saw it go and we figured we'd catch them on the climb. Some good-old-fashioned, negative racing "blocking" took place that prevented the chase once we realized it was dangerous. Thanks to local team, Hub, for animating and making things interesting and congrats to Artemis' Erin, who is riding like she means it right now. Me ? I live to race another day, finishing mid-pack, just out of points contention.

The TT felt fine for me, nothing great, nothing terrible. I hopped on the TT bike on the trainer and said, out loud, oh, I remember this saddle. It was not a good memory. But the short distance and early start were nice. Four hours until the Crit. Almost enough time for a nap, but not quite.

The crit was good fun ... love the course, hate that all the girls slam on their brakes on the last turn. Our girl Leslie done good and finished 2nd in the break (Sonja got away with a few laps to go) and Mel, Sara and I were fairly happy with our finish. I was glad to put the bike in the car and know that I was done pedaling for the weekend. First stage race in a while, and I was toast.

BUT, not so toasty that I couldn't join teammate Robin and the rest of the crew for an impromptu bbq ! Thanks Robin and Jason for having us, a good time was had by all. Even Sara, who seemed to be very happy cuddled up on the couch.

Other ramblings:

I've discovered the DC Velo secret. Some careful detective work revealed the following photo ... you see, while most of us would fear kryptonite, Bozak drinks it like its candy. And, he's pretty smug about it ! Perhaps its like The Princess Bride:


Vizzini: You only think I guessed wrong! That's what's so funny! I switched glasses when your back was turned! Ha ha! You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well-known is this: never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ---

Buttercup: And to think, all that time it was your cup that was poisoned.

Westley: They were both poisoned. I spent the last few years building up an immunity to iocane powder.

So you heard it here first ... Bozak is immune to Kryptonite. And you think that GamJams has all the latest gossip. (no, i didnt type that all out, i copied/pasted it from someone online who did).
(ed. note: thats the best explanation I could come up with for Bozak's fru-fru drink.)

Greenbelt - Rain and Bad Omens

Another week gone by, and another Greenbelt race in the books. Last night's race was mildly entertaining for me - Sara and I warmed up in the rain, then it stopped. The sky looked quite ominous (thank you Sonja and Mark for the $5 word) as we were called to the line but when they blew the whistle, us OCD racers got on with it. The B race was a bit sketch but the pace was about average. The A's, again, were flying as Nick Bax (hot tubes) was out there breaking legs. They passed us early, again, but the field managed to get clear of the B group (unlike last week). The group ride at Davidsonville the day before - dont tell my coach, I wasn't supposed to do it - had softened my legs a little but they came back around by mid-race. All was well.

We rode through the tree-lined area on the backside of the course and felt raindrops. These had to be from the prior rain, just the wind shaking them out of the trees. Right ? Before long, though, we couldn't deny it was a full-fledged rain. My shoes got squishy. My glasses fogged up. Brakes didnt work as well as we came up to the turn. People were getting a bit sketched out - the pace slowed a bit but not much. Again, OCD racers. I drifted toward the back - I had hung out toward the front/middle most of the race but I was not thrilled about taking a dive at a training race because someone misjudged the wet roads. I kept thinking they'd call the race, but they didnt. I think they cut it a lap short. With 3 to go, I threw my glasses - they were fogging up and I couldn't see anything ... but then on the downhill the rain felt like it was stabbing my eyes, which counteracted the pain of roadspray and road grime in my eyes. Awesome. Lesson learned, don't throw your glasses, you might regret the decision.

There was one awesome guy in the pack that kept diving positions and weaving thru the pack. Going down the slight hill leading to the climb, I let him know I was on his right (yes, I'm that person ... I want someone to know I'm there instead of swinging wide and taking me out)- he sarcastically said: oh, okay, after you, then. Then he had some snide remark about how he's never heard so much talking in a bicycle race. Someone else came by him and he commented "do I have a sign on my back saying I'm going backwards?". Clearly this one has some issues. If I would have stopped to respond, it would have been something like this: Don't you know who I am ? Kidding. Its an ongoing joke. I digress.

I sat up when we came into the bell lap - self preservation at its best. I was vindicated, though, as I came up on poor Sara picking up her bike at the entrance to the parking lot. Apparently some schmoe decided he didn't want to race anymore and took a hard right into the parking lot. Sara was on his right. The guy didnt even say he was sorry, nor did he acknowledge that he had a part in the incident. He said "she hit my back wheel". Which is technically true; however, it does leave out the "I made a sudden move right without looking" part. We all make mistakes, its just easier if people own up to them and we can all move on.

Of note, we've decided that VeloChicken aka Christina is bad luck. Beware, she brings bad ju-ju to the Greenbelt race. Case in point - she's been to Greenbelt twice this year. Both times, Sara was taken out by some schmoe in the B race. Coincidence ? I think not. If you see this woman show up to Greenbelt, please take appropriate precautions. Don't say I didn't warn you.

On to the Tour of Washington County - which sounds like good, clean fun. By the way - for those that haven't seen it, check out this video of the Harlem Crit finish... watch to the end to see our own Joe Jefferson making a cameo appearance. Priceless.