Dollars, Disappointment and Racing

I have been reminded by some people that my blog is woefully out of date. This is as telling of what things have been like as telling you about them. I won't let that deter me though.

I'll start with the bad news. The Italy trip has been cancelled. The promoter cited the weakness of the U.S, dollar as the main reason along with low booking numbers. This just gives me one more reason to be absolutely disgusted with the current leadership in our country. How can people sit by while one man and his cronies destroy our country while waving the flag and talking about patriotism. I hope that there is a special place in hell for all of them.

On to the good news. I did my first race of the season April 20. Paris-Ancaster is one of my favorite races of the year. The race is 60K of paved/dirt roads, two-tracks, rail-trail, and farmer's fields. Anne, Jack and I drove to Ontario on Saturday afternoon. We headed to the packet pick-up in Ancaster. From there, I rode back to Paris while Anne and Jack headed to the motel. We had supper at a local restaurant and called it an early evening. Race morning dawned warm and clear. We drove to the start line and I started my warm-up. The start chute was the normal push and shove match, but I managed to get a reasonable spot in the first wave. The gun went off and the season was under way. I moved forward steadily through the first rail-trail section and was in the top 50 moving toward the first dirt road and two-track sections. I maintained a steady HR and Wattage output throughout the race. The wind came up to a steady 20 MPH headwind and I got stuck alone in two key upwind stretches. This cost me. I finished strong however, beating my best time by nearly 14 minutes, good for 4th in SS.

The 12 Hours of Addison Oaks is coming up next weekend. I am entering the solo 12 hour category. This will be a true test of my fitness and my stamina. The very next week will see me compete int he 24 Hours of Boyne. I have heard that the new course is very difficult, so gearing will be a real challenge.

Pictures and race reports to come.