Flight of the Mammoth

Hello readers, and by readers I mean mom and aunt Debby.

Just a quick note here to assure you both (and anyone else who may be lurking) that I'm still alive and well. Yes, believe it or not I'm actually doing pretty well. Rough racing up at the BMCCCC left me pretty cracked, but after a good week of mostly wholesome rest I feel like I've gotten my legs back. I put in a good time trial this Saturday for 3rd place. Mooney crushed me. Then today I absolutely amazed myself by clawing my way over the climbs at Patterson Pass and finishing a very respectable 4th. Mooney crushed me again*, but I put up an honorable fight for the fatties!

I'd been dreading this race for, well, probably the last 6 months. Last year I pulled my ass out of bed at 4am and drove two hours to this race only to get kicked square in the nuts, metaphorically speaking. I got dropped halfway through the first lap. So, yup, I'm pretty pleased with how things went this year. The team was amazing. I know I find myself saying that often, but its true. The guys were as tough as gladiators, as precise as neurosurgeons, and when things got hectic they stayed cooler than Christopher Walken driving a Zamboni with no coat. Bosch was gliding up the hill like he was on rails, and shit talking the climbers the whole time.

The true revelation of the day was Mr. Vincent Owens. I'm going to nominate his ride today as one of the most impressive performances of the year. He attacked from the gun and rode solo for half the race as the peloton shed riders left and right trying to drag him back. And when the combined power of the bunch (including and entire Cal Giant squad) managed to finally bring him back, he just kept on attacking, marking moves and basically kicking ass all day. He dragged my sorry ass all the way up the hard climb on lap 3 thereby keeping me in the race, and then laid down a suicide pull that set up Mooney for the win and Switters for the podium (nearly ripping their legs off in the process.) Vinny is a damn talented rider and it puts a smile on my face to see him tip his hand a bit and show us all what he's capable of. Chapeau!

So yeah. Bike racing. Woo! I'm looking forward to some (much) flatter races this coming weekend, and the fact that I don't have to wake up at 4:30 to get to them. Sweet!

*Note: To be clear, Mooney didn't just crush me, he crushed everyone and won both races.