Due to some well-earned downtime and a needed trip down to the farm to visit family, Noah and I opted out of going to the State RR. Then again, all of the guys who did the big trip of road nats/track nats/Rimouski/Belgium are taking a break or just now coming out of hibernation.
But we were motivated to ride, so we entered the Conquer the Coast Rally in Corpus Christi. It was a pleasant enough route. Took in the bay bridge and even the Port Aransas Pass ferry, and through Mustang Island...it was quite alright.
With most of the racer types at State RR, this was more of a triathlete thing, especially with an 18mile time trial in the middle of this 70 mile rally. Awkward, but it worked.
Well, I suppose it did. I got caught up in a crash about 2 miles after the TT started (mass start TT). I was doing all of the right things. Riding up front, keeping the tempo up. Actually, in the first 30 miles, Noah was in a 2-4 man breakaway, and I rode on the front of the field for most of that 30 miles trying to keep them far enough not to catch, but close enough to encourage a chase. Unfortunately, the chasers would attack, die, and roll back on us.
All in all, I got a good workout in for about 32 miles. Then, as I was sitting about 7th wheel, 4 or 5 guys tangled up in front of me. I was able to navigate through with skill, ninja and luck, but in doing so, I slowed enough that someone relatively close behind me, who didn't bother to even tap the brakes, plowed into me from behind. Over the bars I went anyway, and then the rest of the 30 or so rider back jumped on my bike.
While I was coming to a stop with my back on the ground, my first thought was, "NNNNOOOOAAAHHHH!?!?" I thought he was right behind me, and I was scared he was going down in a heap, and we'd just found out the day before that he was going back to National Talent ID Camp with USA Cycling in a few weeks.
But he'd been hiding well back and though he had to take evasive maneuvers, he made it through just fine.
8-10 riders hit the deck, but all were able to get up and continue. Well, one guy didn't, but everyone left him when he couldn't remember what part of his body was actually hurt-- it was obvious he was faking. But my bike was done and needed some attention in the shop before it would roll again. Luckily, a nice lady and her daughter gave me a ride the 35 or so miles back to Corpus. She knew of Garmin-Cervelo, and (really) as much I tried to convince her otherwise, she was sure she'd seen me on TV in the Tour de France. I told her that it wasn't me, repeatedly. It actually got irritating to have her go on about it, but I was appreciative for the ride anyway.
I met up with Lisa, Scott and Anelise at the finish, and I enjoyed a beer that morning while I nursed wounds and did inventory.
Noah finished well. He was actually in a group that was "racing", and he had the gap coming in, but missed or took a wrong turn about 800m from the line. Still managed to get back on course and work his way up to 3rd or 4th, but it wasn't really a race, so...he lost.
Spent the rest of the day hanging out at the farm. Kids drove the new tractor, and I closed the shades and took a world class nap.
I was able to ride the next day without much trouble at all, so I'm glad my 41 year old body can still withstand a flop on the pavement. Actually felt pretty darn good on the bike, but it hurts my ankle to walk, and my shoulder is pretty tender. Kinda have the philosophy that it is good that I'm riding well enough to ride at the front and take a hit like that. Life ain't bad at all.
Lonnie and Jenny gave me a spare tire cover for my jeep that is from the "Life is Good" line of stuff. When we got home yesterday, as Noah and I took the bikes off of the car and got ready to ride, even though it was late in the day, I looked around at our log cabin, the pool, the hot tub, the happy kids, the pleasant weather, my beautiful wife...yeah, I crashed. Yeah, the entry fee was $60 (!) each for the rally. Yeah, there's a lot of work to do at the Cycling Academy.
But Life is Good anyway.
But we were motivated to ride, so we entered the Conquer the Coast Rally in Corpus Christi. It was a pleasant enough route. Took in the bay bridge and even the Port Aransas Pass ferry, and through Mustang Island...it was quite alright.
With most of the racer types at State RR, this was more of a triathlete thing, especially with an 18mile time trial in the middle of this 70 mile rally. Awkward, but it worked.
Well, I suppose it did. I got caught up in a crash about 2 miles after the TT started (mass start TT). I was doing all of the right things. Riding up front, keeping the tempo up. Actually, in the first 30 miles, Noah was in a 2-4 man breakaway, and I rode on the front of the field for most of that 30 miles trying to keep them far enough not to catch, but close enough to encourage a chase. Unfortunately, the chasers would attack, die, and roll back on us.
All in all, I got a good workout in for about 32 miles. Then, as I was sitting about 7th wheel, 4 or 5 guys tangled up in front of me. I was able to navigate through with skill, ninja and luck, but in doing so, I slowed enough that someone relatively close behind me, who didn't bother to even tap the brakes, plowed into me from behind. Over the bars I went anyway, and then the rest of the 30 or so rider back jumped on my bike.
While I was coming to a stop with my back on the ground, my first thought was, "NNNNOOOOAAAHHHH!?!?" I thought he was right behind me, and I was scared he was going down in a heap, and we'd just found out the day before that he was going back to National Talent ID Camp with USA Cycling in a few weeks.
But he'd been hiding well back and though he had to take evasive maneuvers, he made it through just fine.
8-10 riders hit the deck, but all were able to get up and continue. Well, one guy didn't, but everyone left him when he couldn't remember what part of his body was actually hurt-- it was obvious he was faking. But my bike was done and needed some attention in the shop before it would roll again. Luckily, a nice lady and her daughter gave me a ride the 35 or so miles back to Corpus. She knew of Garmin-Cervelo, and (really) as much I tried to convince her otherwise, she was sure she'd seen me on TV in the Tour de France. I told her that it wasn't me, repeatedly. It actually got irritating to have her go on about it, but I was appreciative for the ride anyway.
I met up with Lisa, Scott and Anelise at the finish, and I enjoyed a beer that morning while I nursed wounds and did inventory.
Noah finished well. He was actually in a group that was "racing", and he had the gap coming in, but missed or took a wrong turn about 800m from the line. Still managed to get back on course and work his way up to 3rd or 4th, but it wasn't really a race, so...he lost.
Spent the rest of the day hanging out at the farm. Kids drove the new tractor, and I closed the shades and took a world class nap.
I was able to ride the next day without much trouble at all, so I'm glad my 41 year old body can still withstand a flop on the pavement. Actually felt pretty darn good on the bike, but it hurts my ankle to walk, and my shoulder is pretty tender. Kinda have the philosophy that it is good that I'm riding well enough to ride at the front and take a hit like that. Life ain't bad at all.
Lonnie and Jenny gave me a spare tire cover for my jeep that is from the "Life is Good" line of stuff. When we got home yesterday, as Noah and I took the bikes off of the car and got ready to ride, even though it was late in the day, I looked around at our log cabin, the pool, the hot tub, the happy kids, the pleasant weather, my beautiful wife...yeah, I crashed. Yeah, the entry fee was $60 (!) each for the rally. Yeah, there's a lot of work to do at the Cycling Academy.
But Life is Good anyway.
