Post date: Jul 18, 2010 3:0:13 AM
Proportions of suffering I forgot even existed. I think my exact words when I got back to the car and collapsed next to it were "ungh.....Hurts so good....Where do I sign up for next year?"
Not much in the way of a race report from me. I didn't know what to expect, whether the dirt roads that made up 25% of the course would be actual hard-packed dirt as I remembered from NY or if it would be more of the gravel-ly mix that GA had to offer, thankfully it was the former, and it had rained a few days prior but was dry out the day before and in perfect condition. I predicted I'd be dropped around mile 20 after a quick glimpse at the course map just as a wild guess, and fell off the back at mile 19.68, up a nice dirt stair-stepper. Rode most of the remainder with in a group of four, dropped two on the final climb, got all psyched up for a little sprint at the end while trying to fight off the tinges of a day-ending-writh-on-the-ground-grabbing-your-leg-while-your-compeitiors-crawl-by-at-15-mph type cramp and ended up accidentally dropping the final guy I was with at 2km to go before zipping my jersey up at the 100 meter sign to finish in style for 83rd of 100starters (no celebration though, that'd be in poor taste).
Highlight of the day was grabbing a Gatorade hand-up at the 2nd feed zone from the Neutral support volunteers and managing to pour it over and get 3/4 of it into my water bottle, still in the cage, while keeping up with my group. Its about all the small victories.
Did anybody do any big rides while we were gone/prep for some final regular-season race butt kicking at Michigan this weekend? We only have regionals the week after that! The season is almost over! Get out and ride!
-Bo