I’m way out of shape. Not physically. I’m out of bike racer shape, which is to say I’ve lost touch with how to kill hours of down time by watching movies and facebooking. I used to be able to kill a day in no time, but today is taking forever. I’m here in Idaho for the Boise Twilight Crit, just hanging out in the Super 8 Motel with my teammate John Freter until the race tonight at 8:15.
We snuck into a breakfast buffet down the street earlier this morning (Saturday is biscuits and gravy day at the Marriott) and have been lying in bed ever since. Not in the same bed. Just two guys having a good time. We’re on our third episode of Two and a Half Men. I hate this show.
Since I left you hanging from a cliff after my last post I’ll have to go back and talk about the national champ crit because I know you can’t stand the wait any longer. It was flat, held on terrible pavement around the Capitol building, and the little bit of wind made it extremely difficult for breaks to stay away for more than a lap or two. I can’t sprint so my only chance was a breakaway. I sat in for the first hour at the back attempting to tail gun as guys shot out the back. I seriously don’t know how anyone could get dropped in this easy of a race but it happened to a lot of guys. I went with some attacks between 15 and 11 laps to go but nothing lasted long. I waited for another opportunity to attack again with a lap or two to go but had a hard time coming around Cash Call’s excellent lead out train (not because they were going fast–but because they were weaving across the road attempting to cash out everyone behind them in the corners). I finished 21st. I won’t be back to this crit unless I learn how to do a pack sprint.
On the other hand, I hear Boise Twilight is a super decisive course where pack sprints never occur not. My plan for tonight is to go on the attack earlier and get some primes and time off the front if I can manage it, get my legs in order for Cascade, and above all drink an extra large Slurpee afterwards. After our ride yesterday John and I both got Slurpees and both had green poop this morning. I hope 7-11 will be open late tonight. I heard that they used to only be open for 7 to 11, hence the name. Why they chose to have their hours of business between 11PM and 7AM is beyond me. I guess those are good hours for graveyard truckers doing their driving in the middle of the night.
I decided to go for a ride and just got back right now. I’d planned on just doing a boring spin around town but somehow ended up high in the hills overlooking Boise on a perfect climb with zero traffic (it was a closed private road). After the descent I stopped off in downtown near the crit course at the burrito place I’d been to with Spencer and Lang during our drive from Bend to Park City way back in 2010 in prep for the tour of Utah. It’s hot, dry, and sunny here in Boise and everyone was out and about. Should be a good race tonight with a fine crowd. Yes sir indeed. Yep. Yup. Yope.
Check out the live coverage of the race tonight starting at 8:15 central, 9:15 west coast.
KENNETT PETERSON 