Darn, That's The End

"Darn, that's the end." It is one of those things that has stuck with me since childhood. The kid at the end of one of the Schoolhouse Rock segements saying it was the end, but unhappy about it. That is the way I feel about the T'Nighter.

We're all tired. It has been a long season, and most of us don't need much excuse to skip a training ride. But the Tuesday Nighter isn't just a race. I could get sappy and talk about the institution that it has become over the last 20 years, but really, it is just an excuse for me to get my ass kicked by crOzzy, then go have a beer with him afterwards.

Tonight was the last T'Nighter for 2004, and at that, it was rained out, so the official race didn't even happen. We did have an impromtu bandit race with no rules, registration and such, but it was sort of anti-climatic since all the big players weren't there. But we did have a good group of teammates there to represent anyway, and I think it is fitting that we won the thing, even if it wasn't an official race. Way to run it, Rory!

Though Eller would never say it, and I imagine he wouldn't even think it, things definitely went into another gear when he came on board. Sure, we were a strong team before, but adding Eller to our mix impacted us on several levels. Yes, even our bar tab went up.

Besides being one of the bad asses of the Texas racing circuit, he also promotes one of the most famous racing series, The Tuesday Nighter. Of course, it wouldn't be Eller's style to actually PROMOTE the thing. No, he just makes sure someone is sitting at the table to take entry fees. The rest is sort of auto-pilot. But he's our Eller, and dammit, I wouldn't want it any other way.

Even if he did call the season finale because it might rain. Fag.

I'm glad we lined it up anyway, because it takes me a foqqing hour to drive out to the course. Li'l Scott rode co-pilot, and on the way, we kept each other company talking about how much we really didn't feel like racing. I'm telling you, the motivational talk and positivisms were about as frequent as my wins this year.

But we got there and Rory taunted us into suiting up. We did. And we rode a whole warm up lap of .75 miles to get ready for the "race." Long story short...wait, the race was all of 45 minutes, so it wasn't really a long story...anybecause, a bunch of nothing tried to get away, and then Rory, Max, and leo finally made the timing and combination work. I jacked with the chase, and that was that.

TEO took off with two to go, which forced a Plano Red to chase (we're Plano Blue for the uninitiated), which forced the field to chase, which essentially led us out to about 700m. That's where Gacki and new 'zinger Les led it out. Li'l Scott rolled in for fourth, I took fifth, and Brooks covered sixth.

Then we went out to 'Dinks for dinner and drinks. OK, only TEO and I drank the blue ritas, but we can't help it if we were out with some pansies. I tried to call Eller and JD, but they screen my calls, so we had a mini party with just the few of us. The highlight was Teri talking about the Dirty Sanchez.

GS Tenzing has its faults, but commaderie isn't one of them. I enjoy hanging out with one or all of those kids in Blue and White. Though I think I only have one more race in me this year, I'm already looking forward to the Herro Rides, camps, skiing, and then January, when we start at it all over again.

Big hug for everyone. Even the guys without any pants.