This, That and The Other

It's been a hectic week so I have been out of touch. I have been having problems dealing with the heat this week. The temps around here have been outragous.Matt and I rode Tuesday night but it wasn't a super fast ride. The temperature was around 94 with 90% humidity, this combination makes it hard to exert yourself, hell, it makes it hard to breath. We struggled and suffered for 1:45. I took off Wed. So Rachael and I could go out to dinner. We chose The Kennette Steak and Mushroom, a relatively new place but very good. We have been there a few times already. Rachael had the chicken Chesapeake and I wenr for the Jack Daniels Ribs. Both were very good and extremely plentiful. I would recommend this place to anybody.

Last night I hit the Fair Hill ride. I, as always, got there early and did 30 minutes of riding. The group was small but the ride was still fast. It was Todd Mike K and I. Todd took us on some trails we haven't been on in a while which was really cool. The problem was, even though the humidity was down it was still 95 out, so the heat was tough. I felt pretty good foe the first 1:30, but started to really fade after that. I think the combonattion of the heat and a tough day at work got the best of me. I stuggled at the end of the ride but managed to hang in there, but just barely.

After the ride I was looking forward to the usual cold beverage, but the Police had a speed trap set on Appleton rd and were using the parking lot as the pull over place. So a beer with friends was out. That was OK though, because it was late and I wanted to spend a little time with my wife before just crashing. I must admit I felt really bad after this ride, I mean REALLY BAD. I think it was the heat, at least I hope it was the heat. I will find out tomorrow when I ride with Matt and Marc.

Well it is time for bed now so, thanks for reading,

Buddy

Openers and Race Day

Until yesterday the only openers I knew anything about was the kind that open my favorite brews. Marc invited me to do a road ride from his house the day before Fair Hill. He said we would do a hour and a half with some openers. I showed up and we headed out. It felt really weird being on my road bike since I hadn't ridden it in a few months. As we were rolling out I asked Marc, "what's an opener?" To which he replied, with a sly little smile on his face, We are going to do a 20 minute warm up then a 3 minute maximum effort, and we will do 3 of these. I must admit it wasn't what I expected but he has been doing them and it works for him so it couldn't hurt. It was what I thought it would be, very painful but in a good way. We rolled back into Marc's after 1:25 and I didn't feel spent, I actually felt good.

This had me extra excited to race today. It was also cool because the New York boys; Karl, Dan and Paul came down to stay with us. We had a nice meal at the Half Moon, which Marc and his wife Diane joined us for. I was rudely awakened at 5:00am by the sound of thunder and pouring rain. I was hopeful that Fair Hill was being spared this deluge but it was not the case. I made a couple of phone calls and food out the race was on.

It was good to see a lot of folks come out that hadn't been racing, Jay Jay who had a nice ride today and Paul who suffered a mechanical and had to pull out early. Finally they called us to the start line for staging, which was a joke. They didn't stage anybody. All the pros, experts and single speeders lined up for one big MASS start. They didn't even separate the age groups it was just total chaos. I was lucky to find myself on the front line and managed to get into the woods in the top 20. That didn't last long though. half hour in I started paying for my effort at the start. I tried to settle into my own groove knowing it was a long race. I never really felt good but I kept pushing hoping to start feeling good at some point. I was starting the first climb when I saw Marc fixing a flat, I felt for him because I know how bad he wanted this race. I also know he was the strongest guy in our class today. I pushed on eventually Todd caught and passed me then a little later Matt did the same. I was feeling a little better but the heat and humidity were killing me. I kept waiting to hear Marc come up behind me but he never did and rolled through the finish in 6th. I wasn't upset with 6th but I was hoping to do better. At least I finished and managed to talk my way into the prize list, which I must thank Randal for. As always (with the exception of the start) The Delaware Trail Spinners put on a class event, and the course wasn't that muddy considering the amount of rain the night before.

Well I must go continue my couch surfing.
Thanks for reading,
Buddy