Singed Nostrils, It All Ends Well
Ever woken to a total gas-out from overcooking a muffin in your toaster oven? My guess is no. Most people wouldn’t sleep through such an event. Well I did. I feel asleep during Dirty Harry’s quest to silence (translate: kill or slay most humiliatingly) the avenging angel in Magnum Force, lustily awaiting the piping hot, lightly toasted Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffin I had purchased earlier in the day. I can’t recall right now when I did fall asleep, but, I did.
Awakening to an ashy post-raid London Blitz effect, I sprang into action. I scooped the two husks of the previously sliced muffin out of the toaster, opened the front door and window, and got my fan going full-blast. The smoke cleared relatively quickly but the odour remains. Most mephitic, let me tell you. I lurched off in my presently fucked Micra (it’s threatening to stall, sort of doing this lurching thing at stop lights, blah) to get another muffin, as that is always the evening’s highlight and when I got back really the apartment was quite livable, minus the purulent smell.
Oh well, live and learn as they say. I even managed to screw up the day’s workout, which is a shame/sham as I lurched through three sub-supers when I really only need do some tempo work. Oh..my…god/bod. Sub-supers really are a twisted invention. It looks quite harmless on paper but in practice, it is devilishly difficult. What is with all these allusions to Tartarus? I should look into that.
I also buggered up my racing plans for this weekend. I thought the Cowichan TT was on Saturday, and the Dove Creek on Sunday; it turns out they are both on Sunday. Not great planning by the organizers, nevertheless, the error is mine. I’ll play it by ear as to which I will do. I’m sure the 50k is the smarter of the two for me to attempt. Not only is it closer, it is longer, and I’m pretty positive the course will be more interesting. Dove Creek is a tough enough course, but it ends up being almost 3 laps, with a highway leg. Yeah, as proved at Sidney, you can go really fast on a highway shoulder, but I don’t really like doing it — too dangerous.
This previous weekend I did a very long, easy ride on Saturday (clocking a total of 6hr 15min) and then on Sunday I did the Mt. Washington climb. I’d done one other long climb, to Silver Star last year; that was an entertaining climb, but really not that difficult. Of course, every climb or TT is hard as one tends to push to threshold. But Washington is a whole other ball game, being, as they claim, a ‘Hors Categorie’ climb — beyond categorization.
I love that “Beyond” bit. It feels so Star Trek. Only I was missing my dilithium crystals…and there was, sadly, no post event rub down with Uhuru. Was that her name? The unbelievably foxy black woman from the original series. I remember being a teenager and totally fascinated by her legs. They were like … God’s own barge poles (I stole that from Kids in the Hall, so if you don’t find it funny, send them a letter, k? Thanks.).
Anyway, Mt. Washington. They say it averages 8-9% in grade, but this is very deceptive; Silver Star is relatively steady in comparison to Washington, which has some nearly flat stretches, and even some downhill! So that 8% average is blighted by some gnarly 15% sections.
It was the beginning of the race that buggered me up. No, let’s back up. It was my childhood…lol, Freud you are so awesome. Anyway, typically lacking confidence, I opted to start at the back. The very back. Uh, not smart. Somebody hit the gong. Show’s over. I let the cadavers sail off at the start as I deked my way forward through “popping” riders. The rest of the race was me picking off guys that had slid off the back of the leader’s pack. I ended up 5th, which was gratifying, especially considering my ridiculous weight these days, 180lbs. The 4 guys that finished ahead of me couldn’t weigh much more than 130lbs each.
The win went to Marcel Aarden, and quite deservingly. He is monster fit right now and couldn’t weigh much more than 130. He announced to me after the race that he is pursuing marathons in the future. I thought that a bit odd but congratulated him nonetheless and wished him well in his future athletic endeavour. I know why. Cycling really does burn you out. Sometimes I think it might be more fun to mostly train and race only twice a year. With cycling it’s basically “go” in April and you don’t stop until September. Some guys carry on in the fall with cross. Wow, I find that really impressive (and crazy at the same time).
I think taking most of this year off has actually been a blessing. My bike lust has revived. I’m really enjoying just participating right now, and if I had really done poorly at Washington I think I still would have had a good time. The race was very well organized and I felt bad for the marshals and people who put the race together, because they didn’t get nearly as many starters as they had hoped for. I think it might have been due partially to poor weather down-Island. I drove through the rain and kept praying for it to clear up; and, for once, my unctuous prostrations paid off: by about Parksville it was quite sunny. On Washington I got par-broiled. I was very glad to be the one guy that had only water in his cage, because I could keep pouring it over my head. The rest of the guys seemed to have drink mixes only. I would have fried if I had done that.
Anyway, recovery ride today, Thursday off, Friday easy, Saturday tune up, and Sunday race. I might try the Nanaimo TT tomorrow, but the weather is really promising to be very bad which would definitely sour me on a long drive and race.
