fun, again

. . .

observations from a weekend of racing

. . .

i went to dubuque this weekend to do the eagle point criterium,

and a strange thing happened.

. . .

several strange things, actually.

for one thing, i left the orphanage at 430 am sunday,

and drove the 210 miles by myself for a 900 am masters 50+ start.

strange time for old guys to race.

it was a beautiful morning, though,

and the park is an absolutely amazing place to race.

i really enjoy dubuque, as i do most old river towns.

they all have such a rough-and-tumble history,

and it doesn't take much to find evidence of it:

cool, old store fronts, row houses, narrow, winding streets.

think about some of them: clinton, burlington, waukon,

boone, mason city, keosauqua. all wonderful towns,

and great places to ride your bike.

so, i registered, warmed up, and did a few easy laps

with the guys i would soon race with.

mostly the same folks i race with week in and week out.

good folks, good riders, and safe racers.

but predictable as hell.

the race sucked, frankly. we didn't do the course justice.

fifteen guys started, yet somehow one person disappeared:

only fourteen finished.

i am puzzled how it happened:

christ, we averaged maybe 30 kilometers an hour.

i was feeling frisky, as usual, and after just pulling the first lap,

i started attacking.

i probably attacked, or at least tried to, six or seven times.

you know, break things up, make it faster,

get a better workout, make it interesting.

well, it seemed like every time i'd go, someone would hollar "hey"

or "rider up" or "there he goes" or some such shit.

like there's fifteen guys in this race, remember?

so EVERYbody jumps, and certain riders respond,

and certain riders ALWAYS get a free ride back up.

the pack stayed together until the fucking end of the race.

i got pissed off, and rolled in eighth.

b f d.

watched the cat 5 race: same result.

40+: same result.

4s: same result.

[women: didn't watch--i was warming up]

[3s: don't remember--too much gambling]

1/2s: same? nope.

. . .

we had six all9yards riders out of the nine guys in the race,

and it was one of the most enjoyable, fluid, back-and-forth races

i've ever done.

i thought for a while that i had totally fucked the race,

and then i thought that we had it in the bag,

then i thought i was dead and buried,

then i had a killer ride on lee's wheel,

then i had kurt and dq on my wheel barking encouragement to me,

then i was bridging,

and attacking off the front,

and getting caught,

and bridging back up,

and attacking off the front,

and charging hard at the end.

and i felt great.

and i remembered AGAIN why i love racing bikes:

i get to ride my ass off, and work hard, and work together,

and get way down, and way back up,

and give up, and get back in to it.

all for only $10.

[these folks didn't charge full price for the second race,

like some promoters do.]

. . .

you guys in eastern iowa who didn't want to drive

an hour or so to race missed a good one.

and those of you who did, and chose not to race:

you missed a good one, too.

trust me on this,

ya oughta try it some time.

shake things up,

have some fun again.

. . .

i'll see ya in iowa city, guys.

. . .