Cyclo-Cross:
Last Sunday I drove about 15 minutes (much shorter than 17.5 hours) to Bosque Middle School to race my cyclo-cross bike for the first time this year. After cheering on the Cat 4s, I lined up for the Cat 3/4 race. The first few laps went by quickly. I chose a gear that was a little too easy and spun out on some of the straights. At about the mid-point of the race, I found myself on the back of the 4th, 5th, and 6th place riders. The race went on and my friend John dropped the hammer and blew the group up. I passed 6th place and finished in that place.
After a few conversations and not riding, I lined up for my first Cat 1/2/3 bike meet. After getting a horrendous start and felling like crap, I decided to “ride into” this race. This can be an excellent strategy for races on the order of 6 plus hours. However, for a 60-minute, wide-open, hammer fest, this is probably a not-so-excellent strategy. Upon the subsidence of leg pain, I realized my “riding into it” strategy was not a good one. Accordingly, I started passing people. After a solid streak of two passes, I didn’t pass anyone until after getting lapped on the final lap. I, surprisingly, had another solid two-person passing streak. I ended the day finishing 9th, talking to my friend Chris about how bad our legs felt. Really, I can’t complain about a mid-pack finish at my first Cat 1/2/3 race.
I’m racing 4 times this weekend. I’m at the end of three-week block of training. Hopefully, I can figure out my gearing and have some fun this weekend. Next week is going to be really mellow—fantastic.
No-Shave November:
I’m about a week into No-Shave November. I’ve want to participate in this fine, lazy-college-male-oriented event for the past few years. Finally, not having any legitimate responsibilities—when you work in a lab in a basement, people’s expectations are low—or interviews, I am able to participate. At the end of the month, I anticipate the results to be somewhere between unimpressive and embarrassing.
Jacket Wearing:
After not were a jacket for the last few sub-freezing days of October, I pulled on a jacket and felt warm. I do not really know why I wanted to make it to the end of October without donning warm clothing, but I did.
Here are a few pictures from my mountain bike nationals trip.
On the return trip, Alex and I tooked a scenic route around the West Shore of Lake Tahoe and through the mountains:
Also on the return trip:
From the North Shore of Lake Tahoe looking SE:
Owen's Valley, CA just North of Lone Pine. When the spring comes that snow will melt and end up in L.A. over 250 miles away.
Not CA. This is me on the job. Somethimes work is hard.
