Pas Aujourd'ui

Bonjour,

For today's entry, I'll write about bike racing. A novel, fresh approach to whatever mundane and dull topics i've written about in the past year and a half. This weekend had a mini-stage race scheduled for sunday. 4.2k morning TT, 120k afternoon RR. Swell. It had been a while since i'd raced. Also, the race was about half as far from Aubenas as most races, a great relief. However, departure time was 5am to make it (500 hours early) for the morning TT start. But aram abides, man. I don't have many photos from the day, but I have HR files. Here's one of the TT...can you guess what kind of course it is?


The official course profile showed a course that's 1.5 kilometers flat, and an even-grade 3km climb to the finish. This course profile was clearly made with windows paint software from the 80s and had little relevance to the actual course, but hey! The effort is always appreciated, even if misleading. I even brought the Mavic tri-spoke (also from the 80s) in anticipation of a mellow uphill drag. It can also be used as a front wheel (pictured) to complete the rare prototype 180 (10x2x9) speed drivetrain. However, race officials would not allow me to use it. They said its weight was simply too much for the roads to handle, and it would cause irreparable damage to the tarmac if used.


Well, I started the entry off in jest, but in actuality, It was a pretty crummy race day for me. I simply didn't have it. No excuses, no "oh but if I...". No. I was mid-pack in the uphill TT with a time of 10:20 (winner had 8:57), and got my first DNF of the year in the road race only an hour in. No, it isn't fun to write about a shite weekend, but it's a tool. It's a reminder of how it feels to do poorly. I remember being in the groupetto for a bit and thinking, "geez. it sucks here." After mixing it up off the front the last few races, it's a stark contrast to be well off the back "working" with some guys in shit weather just to make it to the finish. I normally never pull out of races, but the body convincingly said "do it, pull out. at this point, finishing will do more harm than good." I didn't have my usual post-race pizza when I got home. Muesli (dry) instead...though I probably deserved something even more bland, sawdust, maybe.

Lots to look forward to, however. A friend from SoCal is coming to visit tomorrow. Stoked. He's bringing some much-needed stuff , among it all, a new set of wheels!!! Very very excited for that. Also, the weather looks to be improving after an uncharacteristic week where I unwillingly slipped on the knicks and jacket. Wintery conditions in friggin' June disgust and annoy me. Lastly...I have a new roommate and a new room! My old roommate moved out, I moved into his room, and an IRISHMAN moved into my old room [Simon, if you read this, please, guy, let's keep the common areas clean]. The new room has a bigger bed, so my feet don't hang off the edge any longer and I sleep better. Here's today's view from the new bedroom window...