Tuesday, January 23, 2007
MAN, that was cold....
If it were any colder it would not have happend. It could not have happened, the roads would be frozen sheets of ice.
Last Saturday was the first race of the year. It was at Copperas Cove, an hour north of Austin. As we drove to the race sight the thermometer slowly crept the wrong direction. It was 37 when we started. That's F not C.
It was painfull the whole race. I never did warm up. Oh yeah did I mention it rained the entire time? The only god thing about the weather was the wind was not blowing too hard. One out of three is not to bad.
The race started out as a carbon copy of the State Road Race set on the same course a few months ago. A powerfull break gets away early and it's game over. We had two At&t BrainandSpine riders in the break. It was time to sit in and chase stuff. Finally after the break was long gone, I attacked with 35 miles to go in an 87 mile race. Well at least I'll be a bit warmer working a bit harder. Believe it or not it worked. The numbness was leaving my fingers.....a bit.
One of the problems I had was the lack of dexterity in my arms and fingers left me with no ability to fish my food out of my pocket much less open it an eat it. Eighty seven miles......no food. Oh well, I did have a big breakfast at the IHOP. But with about 10 miles left in my solo effort it was wearing off.
I made the final turn to the finish. I look up and see the sign, 7 miles to Copperas Cove. Ouch! I sneeked a peak behind me and no one was there. OK, just pedal. With 4 miles to go Erick B on my team catches me and drops me instantly. At this point I am not pedaling circles, not even squares, more like irregular triangles. With a mile to go I get caught by one more guy. Ryan Roth from Canada. He was sitting on my wheel when I discovered him. I'm not sure how long he was there. At this point hypothermia has set in. He pulls through and I can stay on his wheel. Then he motions me with his elbow to pull through. I do. I don't know why. The line is coming up and there is no sprint in my legs. I just want to finish. I do, right behing Roth.
I ride into the gym where registration is and lay down on the concrete floor. I feel like crap. The worst I have ever felt after a race. I question why I do this and an hour later I ready to register fo the next race in New Braunfels. I hope it's warm...er.
Last Saturday was the first race of the year. It was at Copperas Cove, an hour north of Austin. As we drove to the race sight the thermometer slowly crept the wrong direction. It was 37 when we started. That's F not C.
It was painfull the whole race. I never did warm up. Oh yeah did I mention it rained the entire time? The only god thing about the weather was the wind was not blowing too hard. One out of three is not to bad.
The race started out as a carbon copy of the State Road Race set on the same course a few months ago. A powerfull break gets away early and it's game over. We had two At&t BrainandSpine riders in the break. It was time to sit in and chase stuff. Finally after the break was long gone, I attacked with 35 miles to go in an 87 mile race. Well at least I'll be a bit warmer working a bit harder. Believe it or not it worked. The numbness was leaving my fingers.....a bit.
One of the problems I had was the lack of dexterity in my arms and fingers left me with no ability to fish my food out of my pocket much less open it an eat it. Eighty seven miles......no food. Oh well, I did have a big breakfast at the IHOP. But with about 10 miles left in my solo effort it was wearing off.
I made the final turn to the finish. I look up and see the sign, 7 miles to Copperas Cove. Ouch! I sneeked a peak behind me and no one was there. OK, just pedal. With 4 miles to go Erick B on my team catches me and drops me instantly. At this point I am not pedaling circles, not even squares, more like irregular triangles. With a mile to go I get caught by one more guy. Ryan Roth from Canada. He was sitting on my wheel when I discovered him. I'm not sure how long he was there. At this point hypothermia has set in. He pulls through and I can stay on his wheel. Then he motions me with his elbow to pull through. I do. I don't know why. The line is coming up and there is no sprint in my legs. I just want to finish. I do, right behing Roth.
I ride into the gym where registration is and lay down on the concrete floor. I feel like crap. The worst I have ever felt after a race. I question why I do this and an hour later I ready to register fo the next race in New Braunfels. I hope it's warm...er.
# posted by john bratton @ 6:26 PM 
