What happened?

Last week absolutely flew by and all I could do was hang on for the ride. I spent the first few days building show bikes for the handmade show and then transitioned back into regular details. I spent one night on the rollers and one night out on the road bike. Roller night was boring as usual, but Thursday night Jason and I hit the road in the rain for 2.5 hours of self loathing and punishment. I really need to blow off some steam and I had been fighting a cold all week.

After a lap in the neighborhood, we decided to climb Lookout Mt from the Scenic Hwy side. As we started through town, the rain started to pick up. I think we both wanted to turn around but neither wanted to say it. We rolled to the base and started up the mountain. By the time we made it to the top, the rain had turned to snow. That was actually pretty nice, but the trip back down the mountain was sketchy at best. All went well and we just cruised back to the Northside. It was what I needed at the end of a long week with a race looming on Saturday.

On Friday morning I woke up feeling terrible. Not to sure that the ride the evening before was such a good idea. On one hand, it was great to put some hurt into the legs the night before, but the rainy cold weather put the hurt on my chest cold. I went into work late and spent an hour or so getting my work load in order. I knocked out a ton of stuff that I had been neglecting because of the bike show. It was nice to wrap up this work week.

Saturday morning I woke up early and started getting all my bike stuff together for the race. By not riding much last week, all my gear was in good shape and in order. I rolled down the street and picked up Jason. After a quick breakfast at Aretha's, we drove down to Dalton. I was not feeling like racing at all. A belly full of pancakes and chest full of funk was not the recipe for racing I usually like.

By the time we finally made it to the starting line all I wanted to do was get on the trail. I jumped in on one of the first 5 waves that rolled out. Jason and I were finding our tempo and quickly caught the slower folks of the first few waves. It was nice being out on the course in muddy conditions earlier than most. There were only a few ruts by the time we made it to the top of the first climb. The corners were a blast, but completely sketchy. I felt like I was listing like a ship as I would start on the inside of the turn and slide all the way to the outside while still pedaling the whole time. It was fun.

The halfway point came quick this time. I quickly changed bottles and rolled back onto the trail. Less than 10 minutes into the second half, I spun out on a steep rocky section and rammed my left knee cap right into my stem. I think I fell over clipped in and everything. I remember a guy asking me if I was alright, but I could barely hear him. I thought that I was going to throw up it hurt so bad. Much like hitting your funny bone really hard, nothing really funny about it. After several years of single speed racing, this has happened before, but it never gets better. As I was regaining my composure, my main race target comes flying by. I shake it off and jump back on my bike. I keep his wheel for the next few miles then we hit some traffic and I was trying not to think about my knee and my cold and just stay focused on moving forward.

I hit the last section and I am pretty much over the entire race. I decided to just sit down and start spinning as solid and smooth as I could without getting to worked up. Near the top of the final climb I look back and see a pink rigid bike back down the trail. Pink bikes usually mean single speeds, so I started to ramp it up a bit but I was not feeling it at all. He caught up with me on the last part before the the road finish and rode my wheel all the way down the hill. Right at the last minute I realize that this is going to be a sprint finish. I make a break for it and he pimped me by half a wheel at the finish. Too bad for me, he started in the wave behind me, so we didn't need to sprint, but I am glad we did. That was fun. While I was trying not to puke earlier on, he had time to catch up and finally beat me to the line.

We were the first two single speeds back and I shaved 14 minutes off of my January time. I think that I had some bottled up frustration and stress from a long work week and lots of rain. I merged all my riding time into one day and it worked out pretty well. I will start my speed work this month and am looking forward to dropping some more time. The last Snake Creek is the best anyway, might as well throw down a killer time and have something to celebrate.

We have a new direction for the Yazoo Race team and there will be much more on that front as Jut and I finalize the details. New kits will be coming soon.