3 days de fun

well it was a great 3 days of racing [masters 35+, no 40+ so i had to hurt the youngsters], i can't remember the last time i had so much fun racing. since none of my other team mates could make it [something about being wusses, i'm not sure], i was free all weekend to ride for myself and be aggressive and an agitator, which i took full advantage of and had a blast. i love working for a teammate or having them work for me, but i also love to make things happen in a race, set tempos, break away, attack, i simply like agressive racing, that is what i think racing bikes is all about, winning is great, but being active the whole race is what racing is.


[warming up, which really all i had to do was get out of the car and step into the blast furnace]

it all started with a hot hot hot 102F+ TT [time trial] on friday. we rolled into the mountains 50 miles east of san diego friday morning to clear skies and the temperature starting to reach towards 100F. got in a good warm up [more like hot up] and went through 2 bottles of hammer HEED. could not decide wether or not to wear the aero helmet [louis garneau] or not. i finally decided if the 50+ guys could, so could i, it proved to be a good decision, as it shield me from the sun and was actually quite cool inside. up to the start line and sweating and warmed up and ready to fly, after a few sponsor plugs with the announcer and name correction [beck-er, with an H] was soon flying down the road at sub-mach 30mph and ready for the first test of the TT, the first climb.


[asking the team soungier for some water before the start of the TT]


[did i metion it was hot?]


[getting ready to rumble]


[all ready down the road before the digital camera could react]

by the top of the first climb my mouth was so dry [can't remember it ever being so dry], my lips had stuck to my teeth and i had no, as none, nada spit. luckily my team mate, coach, and all around super MASIGUY, outfitted my TT bike with a cool aero bottle that he convinced me into filling half way. what a God send, i used it 3 times during the TT to free my lips and wet my throat. i caught my minute guy right after the half way turn around and then my 2 minute guy soon after that [was not looking to well in the heat]. i had a small mechanical at the top of the return climb, trying to get into my big ring, but i finally got it to move and bombed down the descent and into the finishing false flat. i felt pretty good about my effort and placed 13th out of 61 [not all riders rode every event, wusses...], so i picked up 4 omnium points and missed out on a top 5 finish by 30sec. urghhhhh... that woun't happen next year. it was great to score some points, as if you aren't in the top 20 of the omnium stages, you collect nothing for your effort. my time did beat a few of the guys in the pro 1/2 cat race. i was dreaming of a bobo's hamburger afterwards, but had to settle for la posta diner burger which i shared [yes i am a climbing freak, but i earned it], with josephine [team soigneur and photag for the weekend and all around beautiful person].


[all done and ready to jump into the swimming pool i kept seeing in the road in front of me, like a dangling carrot]

special thanks to jessica at LG for all the support, the guys at iMartin for setting up the TT bike [especially mike for building her and giving her some street-cred], MASIGUY for the TT bars and cane creek wheels, my mom for a place to sleep and veg after the race[s], my team for putting up with me, especially greg, bobo's hamburgers for being great guys, dave jarrett for being the best flatlander i know, GPTV [gerry, your my sprinting, big gun' s hero], and of course this TT was dedicated to maj. charles dale [still missing in action in vietnam, may your soul find peace].