Saturday was windy and cold. Wind gusts reached up to 80mph, measured by sticking my hand out the car window. Dust blew across the race course into our eyes all day long.
Tony and I got to the course late after an extended morning hanging out at my relative’s house. I spun for an hour or so before Tony’s race, then went back to the car to put on all the clothes I had.
Tony’s race was hard. The wind gusts made the corkscrew descent especially hairy. From what I heard, riders were swerving all over the place on the 40+ mph descent.
I cheered Tony on from the flat section at the finish line for the first half of his circuit race and he seemed to be doing fine. At every lap, we would exchange a quick bow–LifeCyle style.
Shivering in the wind, I decided to make my way up to the hill, hoping it would be less windy. I was in luck.
Also on the hill, was an extremely annoying guy with a bull horn, “encouraging” dropped riders. He might have thought that he was doing the racers a favor, but if I was one of those guys, I’m pretty sure I would have run him over. The last thing I want when I’m suffering up a steep hill is some idiot telling me I’m not going hard enough. One racer, wearing a Slipstream/Chipotle skinsuit, was dropped early on in the race and every time he would grind up the hill, the guy with the bullhorn would yell, “GO GO GO burrito boy! Think about that burrito you’re gonna eat after the race! Fajita fiesta!” The bullhorn guy was cussed out numerous times and I’m sure he was met by a number of racers in the parking lot after the race.
Tony was strong for the first couple laps, and broke away for over a mile by himself at one point. But the hill began to wear on him, and with only 2 laps to go in the 60 minute race, he fell off the back. He finished, but was pissed that this was the second day in a row that a hill stopped him from being in contention at the finish line.
Karey did very well in the road race. She said it was the longest, hardest race she had ever done. Finishing somewhere in the top 20, Karey managed to beat most of her field.
Like Karey and I, Chris Swan (another teammate of ours) did not have good luck during the NRC circuit race. Chris was caught up in a crash during the descent; he was unhurt, but was never able to catch back on to the peloton.
Sunday:
Tony and I said goodbye to my relatives who we were staying with: Jack, Laurie, Ross, (and Chelsea over the phone) this morning. The prank wars between Tony and I versus Jack and Ross were finally over when Ross wrote in soap all over our car and threw an old banana at our window. Or at least they THNK the pranking is over. They, in fact, did not have the last word, for Tony and I hid an alarm clock in Ross’ room set for 2AM tonight. And it is hidden in a place where 10 year-old Ross won’t be able to reach, which will require Jack to wake up and take it down himself. Plus the alarm clock is broken and does not shut off unless you unscrew the back and take out the batteries. Score board–Jack and Ross: 4. Tony and Kennett: 4.5.
The car ride home took forever again. We picked up Karey in San Mateo and took turns driving for the next 95 hours or whatever. We managed not to kill each other, but everyone was a bit tired and cranky by the end of the trip. Especially Tony. Karey and I began to make fun of him, dubbing him “Negative Nancy.” Of course, calling him this made him even more cranky. So we kept it up until we got home to Eugene. From now on, whenever he gets angry, I’ll have ammunition. And when he gets really upset, I’ll just pull out the triple N: Negative Nay-saying Nancy. Works like a charm.
KENNETT PETERSON 