Monday, April 7, 2008

Put on your Game Face!


OK, maybe I need to work on my game face (I'm the dork sitting 3rd wheel, smiling like an idiot as these other dudes look to be digging into their suitcases of courage). This picture was taken a few laps into the Niagara Classic last spring at the top of the infamous Saylor's Hill...a few more times up and I assure you the poop-eating grin was wiped away!
In any case my competitive season for 2008 is under way, so I put this up to remind me how much I love to race!
I'm still not running - hopefully this week - so I'm spending some solid time in the saddle. I'm also doing a bit of bike racing to keep things interesting and get the competitive juices flowing.
It started this past weekend with a cool race called the Tour of Pelham. The course was a good excuse to get the cyclocross bike out for a spin: a mix of paved road, dirt road, single track, un-improved farm paths and rutted-out mud chutes. As Coach KP said "sounds very 'Belgian'!" While it was no Ronde van Vlaanderen at only 35km in length - it did hurt and it was FUN!
A teammate from my new road/CX team got away very early in the race so I covered moves and made sure his solo breakaway was secure. Once the race was established, I took off from our chase group of 6 on a tough stretch of soft cordouroy gravel road and TT'd home for 2nd place.
This weekend I'm back on skinny tires with 2 road races. I'll race Cat. 3 and hope for atleast a hard workout on what are two pretty tough courses. I'm feeling strong on the bike but the funny thing about road racing is that doesn't always mean you'll do well...unless you're REALLY strong...we'll see!
I'll keep you posted after this weekend, in the mean time, wish me luck with my first run in 3.5 weeks on Wednesday!


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