Notes from Nats

I can't promise any entertainment value from them, but I kept notes on my weekend:

Friday, 4:29am:  Huh...I'm awake.  Body is tired but my head won't go to sleep.  Got up and did a bunch of work.  Needs to get done anyway, since I'm leaving for Bend at 10:00.

7:30am:  Work nearly done, pause and get kids up for school.  So cute when they're sleeping.  I am going to miss them while I'm gone for the weekend.

7:45am:  Kids happily eating breakfast while I make their lunch for the day.  I remind them (with a very positive tone) that I'll be leaving while they're at school and be home Sunday at lunch time.  Mette starts to cry, and comes over to give me a hug.  Ouch.

8:30am:  Walked girls to school.  Hugs and kisses.  I get all choked up as I see a little body walk away from me into the school.  I know I'm only gone for the weekend, but I will miss them.

9:00am:  Pack my bags.  I actually prepared for this yesterday, so it was easy.

9:30am:  Time to load up the bikes.  Hmmm, bike 'A' is still dirty from USGP last week, and it's a lot more dirty than I thought it was.  I've been waiting for a non-freezing day to wash it, but the weather has stayed cold all week.  I scrub the PIR crust off with warm water and load it on the car.  Glad bike 'B' is clean.

10:00am:  Gather race wheels...hmmm, I ruined my tubeless rear wheel at Barton a few weeks ago, and I've been too busy to build a replacement.  All the photos from Bend are showing a hard, bumpy, icy course, so I would rather not ride clinchers.  What to do?  My tubular wheels need to be reglued, so they're out.  The race wheel is missing a spoke - nipple pulled clear through the rim so there's no replacing it.  I wonder...what if I trued my race wheel up with 31 spokes?  Would it hold for 45 minutes?  I'll try it.  I'll pre-ride the course this evening and only ride it on race day if it's completely true after I put it through its paces.  I pack a clincher along for backup.

11:00am:  Wheel ready to go, everything is packed.  A couple "urgent" work matters present themselves, so I'm delayed a little longer.

12:00pm:  I'm off for Bend!  Pick up Hugh and Monty and we're on our way.

1:00pm:  I remind my travel companions we will not be stopping for chicken nuggets.

1:30pm:  I remind my travel companions we will not be stopping for chicken nuggets.

2:00pm:  I remind my travel companions we will not be stopping for chicken nuggets.

2:30pm:  I remind my travel companions we will not be stopping for chicken nuggets.  It never gets old!  For me.

3:30pm:  Arrive at Richard's house (thanks Richard).  Nice setup.  We unpack and I get dressed for the race course.

4:00pm:  Course pre-ride.  31 spoke race wheel performs just fine.  Good thing, too, because I want to ride tubeless in all this ice.  There is some tricky stuff out here on the icy course.  I ride and re-ride a few sections to get it figured out. 

4:45pm:  After about four laps, the rear wheel spontaneously snaps and fails into an all too familiar taco shape.  Of course it did, what was I thinking?  I'm done with my course preview.  It's dark, anyway, and I can't see where I'm going anymore. 

6:00pm:  Quick trip to the house, change into normal clothes and put the bikes away.  We go to downtown Bend and have some sweet Thai food (green curry!), check out the Vanilla bikes on display at a coffee bar and the PDXcross photos at TBD.  Nice night.

10:00pm:  Ready for an early night, gotta get some sleep for tomorrow's race.  But then there's an "emergency" from a client of mine and requires my help.  All I have with me is a cell phone, so all I can do is walk this person through fixing a SQL Server database problem. 

11:30pm:  Still getting calls.  I am less than pleased.

12:00am:  Going to bed, head spinning.  Big day tomorrow.

 

Saturday, 4:29am:  I'm wide awake.  Again!  I lay in bed wondering why this has happened two days in a row.  I do the math, trying to solve an unsolvable algorithm.  

7:00am:  Hey...4-29 is my birthday.  Coincidence?  Having solved the equation, I get up for some breakfast.  Groggy.

10:00am:  Off to the race course to pick up my number.  Sign in went smoothly.  Number 853.  Kind of cool how the last two digits add up to equal the first.  Right?  I think I'm a nerd.

10:30am:  Pin numbers on the skinsuit.  I hate pinning numbers, especially these damn sleeve numbers.  You know how a girl scout troop or some kids could make a butt-load of money at a race like this?  Set up a number pinning tent.  $5 to pin your numbers on.  They would make a killing.

11:00am:  Dressed is warm-up clothes, take bike 'B' to the pit.  I hope I don't need to use it.

11:40am:  Course looks open.  Yup, people are riding.  I pre-ride the course for one hour and fifteen minutes.  The more nervous I get, the more laps I do.  That was a little too much.

1:00pm:  Change into dry shoes and get on the rollers to warm up for my 2:00 race.  I am already warm.  Actually, I am kind of tired from all those pre-ride laps.  I forced myself to do some high RPM spin intervals to get the legs moving again, but I feel all rubbery and flat.

1:45pm:  Time to head down to the course.  I do some quick practice starts and I'm happy to be feeling snappy again.

1:55pm:  Staging for the big race.  I'm sitting in about the middle of a pack of 140 guys.  I line up on the right side.  The first turn into a narrow slippery hill is a left-hander.  Some dufus (probably several, actually) will squeeze in to the left side and cause a crash on that turn.  If I'm on the right side, maybe I can get through it. 

2:02pm:  The gun goes off.  We're sprinting down the road.  I'm waiting for the crash, ready to hopefully stay upright and get around it.  Come around that left-hander and there we go: People on the ground, all I can do is put a foot down and scoot up the hill.  Three people run into me at speed.  I guess it's easier than using your brakes.

2:03pm:  Thankfully, I made it through the first few turns without a crash, and without a bike problem.  It's race time!

2:04pm:  I am going backwards.  Damn it.  People passing me left and right.  Dig a little harder, dude.

2:05pm:  Onto the grassy part of the course.  People falling all over the place.  I avoid them and pass a few guys who are apparently stronger than their technical skills allow for.  I bet they didn't pre-ride the course for an an hour and fifteen minutes.

2:20pm:  This course is hard.  I knew it would be, but holy crap, I am tired.  There are a few sections of the course where I just go backwards.  If I were in better shape, I could maintain my position and resume my momentum in the technical grassy sections.  If...but I'm not.  Come on, dude.  Pedal!  What's wrong with you!

2:45pm:  Through the finish area, the crowd goes nuts.  Everyone is screaming.  I am oblivious, just trying to get through the race.  Just before turning off the asphalt, I look back and see the race winner about to cross the line, hands held high in the air.  He's done.  I'm not. 

2:46pm:  I am the last guy on the course right now.  Everyone behind me has been pulled from the race, so I can't get passed on this last lap.  There are some guys way up there ahead of me.  I don't think I can catch them, but I will try.

2:50pm:  I am getting close to some guys but we all know it's our last lap and are going awfully hard.  I can't catch them with horsepower, maybe on the grassy stuff I can make up some ground.

2:52pm:  I caught them!  On the super crazy off camber downhill right before the finish.  But then I mess up the turn at the bottom of the hill and they gap me again. 

2:53pm:  They hit the asphalt and are gone.  I sprint to try to catch them, but there was no way.  I cross the line and fold over. 

2:55pm:  Friends, warm Shimano towel, good times.  Heidi gives me a beer.  Perhaps the best beer I've ever tasted in my life.  My season is over.  I was feeling a little bummed about my race, but I'm really happy now.

3:10pm:  Grab my jacket and watch the 30-34 race.  Those guys are fast.  Now that my race is over, I'm relaxed and really enjoying being a spectator.  Talking with friends, screaming at the racers as they go through the barriers by the beer garden.  This is fun.

4:00pm:  Back to the car and change.  It's really cold.  Toes are frozen.  Brrrrr.

4:30pm:  Showered, feeling warm again.  Now we're off to a Presto Velo party.  Fun guys, and Rich Cramer has a third place medal to look at.  Congrats, Rich.

9:00pm:  Out to the course again to take in the Clydesdale race.  I was going to do this, but I was just wiped out.  Maybe next year.  I can't believe how many people are out here yelling at the racers, who are wearing costumes and big head-mounted lights to see where they're going.  Brad Ross comes through wearing a polka-dot jersey.  Short sleeves and shorts, no gloves, in 30 degrees.  I bet he's cold. 

9:30pm: I have no idea who won.  Coker comes in second, not able to defend his title.  He looks intensely disappointed.  I was rooting for Brad to win, but Coker and GeWilli were tied for my #2 pick.

9:45pm:  I walk around the crowd saying hello to whomever I can find.  It's fun to catch up.   I want to stay out late but my buddies are not up for it.  We head home, need to get up early and clean up the house, wash the sheets.  We have to be home by noon.

 

Sunday, 8:15am:  In the car, on the way home.

9:30am:  I remind my travel companions we will not be stopping for chicken nuggets.

10:00am:  I remind my travel companions we will not be stopping for chicken nuggets.

10:30am:  I remind my travel companions we will not be stopping for chicken nuggets.  It never gets old.  For me.

12:15pm:  I'm home.  The kids scream, Donna smiles.  Hugs all around.  I had a great time, but it's nice to be back.  I hope to give it another go next year! 

 

Photos courtesy Heidi Swift.  Thanks!