I love to race with the 40+ masters men for a lot of reasons - they're pretty much all nice guys (save a few creeps but that's just how life is), they race hard, they're aggressive, they race (mostly) smart, and the majority know how to race. When the whistle blows, it's go time and there's no screwing around. Sure, things slow down here and there and every once in a while someone f's up a turn but I seem to get more out of racing with the guys at local stuff. The slower guys are usually gone in the first few laps and things thin out nicely. Plus, the added bonus - it's an opportunity to watch man-butt.
I lined up today in Elgin flying Snoopy blue with Ansgar who I found out last night is sitting in 1st place for the 40+ Tour of Illinois and Wisconsin. Yesterday I was sort of on the fence about racing (my fragile psyche has been kicking in for some reason lately) until I heard that. Then I felt like I had to go. The course was pretty straightforward with one small technical left/right downhill/uphill chicane section that had been making things interesting all day. I knew when I saw a wall of hay bales at the bottom of the hill that there might be some action down there...
Warm up was decent and I think we had near 40 on the start line - lots of really good bike racers and some well, not-so-good. The Planet Bike contingent lined up with (I'm not kidding) HELMET MIRRORS!! Gotta love the Wisconsin guys. Stuff started off well enough and before long I got involved with the first of two wrecks in the chicane. I don't really even know what happened to cause the wreck - so many ways to screw up that turn - and it really doesn't matter. I went to the wheel pit and got my free lap and returned to action. Later on some primes were thrown out and a small break was away for a few laps but nothing that caused any concern - they were brought back into the main group before too long. With 3 laps to go I got stuck in another CF in that chicane and unfortunately Ansgar got caught up too. I got a free lap but had to chase to get back in - I was never able to close the gap and finished behind the main group in 11th. Ansgar snagged 9th and pretty much sewed up the 40+ masters TOI/WI points series - way to go Ansgar!!
After I got home I just couldn't stay in the house on such an amazing day so I headed over to the lake and killed a couple of hours reading by the beach - always good for clearing a mind full of traffic. What I'm groovin' to lately - Death Cab for Cutie, Hot Hot Heat, The Raconteurs, Matthew Sweet, Beck and R.E.M. with some Allman Brothers thrown in just because. What am I reading? Total schlock - the Scott McClellan book. I needed some mindless reading and it fits that description just right.
Thanks for reading - up next maybe a time trial on Saturday and the Glencoe Grand Prix on Sunday.
I lined up today in Elgin flying Snoopy blue with Ansgar who I found out last night is sitting in 1st place for the 40+ Tour of Illinois and Wisconsin. Yesterday I was sort of on the fence about racing (my fragile psyche has been kicking in for some reason lately) until I heard that. Then I felt like I had to go. The course was pretty straightforward with one small technical left/right downhill/uphill chicane section that had been making things interesting all day. I knew when I saw a wall of hay bales at the bottom of the hill that there might be some action down there...
Warm up was decent and I think we had near 40 on the start line - lots of really good bike racers and some well, not-so-good. The Planet Bike contingent lined up with (I'm not kidding) HELMET MIRRORS!! Gotta love the Wisconsin guys. Stuff started off well enough and before long I got involved with the first of two wrecks in the chicane. I don't really even know what happened to cause the wreck - so many ways to screw up that turn - and it really doesn't matter. I went to the wheel pit and got my free lap and returned to action. Later on some primes were thrown out and a small break was away for a few laps but nothing that caused any concern - they were brought back into the main group before too long. With 3 laps to go I got stuck in another CF in that chicane and unfortunately Ansgar got caught up too. I got a free lap but had to chase to get back in - I was never able to close the gap and finished behind the main group in 11th. Ansgar snagged 9th and pretty much sewed up the 40+ masters TOI/WI points series - way to go Ansgar!!
After I got home I just couldn't stay in the house on such an amazing day so I headed over to the lake and killed a couple of hours reading by the beach - always good for clearing a mind full of traffic. What I'm groovin' to lately - Death Cab for Cutie, Hot Hot Heat, The Raconteurs, Matthew Sweet, Beck and R.E.M. with some Allman Brothers thrown in just because. What am I reading? Total schlock - the Scott McClellan book. I needed some mindless reading and it fits that description just right.
Thanks for reading - up next maybe a time trial on Saturday and the Glencoe Grand Prix on Sunday.
