Bunny Hop

Last year I got 5th in the 1,2,3 race and 3rd in the masters 35+. This year I got 5th in the 1,2,3 race and 3rd in the masters 35+. The difference? It was hot as hell last year, and this year it was raining. There was also a difference in my form. I was fitter last year, and this year I am on my third week of training after letting my form go for a month to ramp it up in preparation for the NRC races and the UCI race I will be doing in the next few months.

When your getting fit for the first time, or getting back into racing after a very long break (8 yrs for me), I think you have to get every mile you can and just beat your self into submission. Once your competitive at an elite level, you go through cycles of build up and let go. For me, it is hard letting form go, but I realize the benefits. I am not a believer of avoiding burn-out, if you burn out from doing what you love you probably are fooling yourself and don't really love it at all and need to do something else. I think the real worry is getting flat, stale. What ever.

My wife bought a few records at the thrift store yesterday. She doesn't really know the 70's rock, but she'll buy them all and right now I'm blasting 900 watts of record crackling guitar screaming "Frampton Comes Alive", and if I get any more pumped I might throw a beer bottle through the window. Oh yeah, I'm having a few beers right now. Perfect post race meditation.

During the 1,2,3 race I yelled "If you can't sprint drop back", I was halfway joking. One guy (who I will not name) said "I can sprint!" Three corners later, out of the last turn, I heard a wet swoosh and a Batman like "SMASH" "BOOM" and "POW". I was told he crashed. Maybe I jinxed him? I hope he is OK.

A very good rider in the 1,2,3 race told me pre race that only 3 racers he knew of that were cat 1's blogged. Myself, Russ Langley and Pete Cannell. He said the only reason he saw for blogging was to say "HEY! Look at me, how good I am!" or "This is my excuse". He then promptly went home and posted on Facebook how well he did. I will probably be de-friended now, but I'm just saying... Funny thing after he told me that, another person said I should blog more, like once a day. If social acceptance is what I needed, I would be bi-polar.

I got to the race way early and watched the juniors, women, cat 4's and a bunch of other races. If Steven Black, the Junior, sticks with racing he is going to crush everyone.

On my way to the race, I had an incident. Leaving 495 to branch ave the cautionary sign says '25mph', so I did 15mph cause I drive like an old lady. As I got onto Branch Ave, my car started fish-tailing. I over corrected what seemed like 10 time, but was more like 4 and succeeded in sliding backwards facing traffic - which was doing an excellent job of avoiding me. I handled it like Jason Borne (if he almost shits his pants in these situations). I was breathing heavy and I could feel my heart pound in my ears as I looked at the cement wall I was parallel parked inches from. The the first car to come off the off ramp came flying at me and had to skid around me and into Branch ave. More cars came skidding around me as I tried to start my reluctant car. Finally, it started and I started driving as fast as I could backwards down Branch ave. After about a half mile, I stopped, then luckily God decided to stop toying with me like a cat with a half dead mouse and all 4 lanes of traffic stopped. I did a U-turn and drove right past my exit. I just kept going straight until my heart calmed and I could let the death grip off of the steering wheel to shift gears and use my turn signal.