Vegas Baby!

I headed out to Las Vegas last week. Trish had a tech conference to attend so I had a 'cheap' place to stay. It was a nice break (I didn't ride the bike or even work out). My typical day;

1. Wake up and eat breakfast with Trish
2. Sign up for a Texas Holdem tournament
3. Go back to the room and become slug-like until 10:00am when the tournament started
4. Play in tournament
5. Head to the $1 / $2 ante No Limit cash table after the tournament
6. After 8 hours of playing poker, go out to eat with Trish
7. Repeat the next day

I didn't do too bad either. I finished 2nd and 4th in the two Holdem tournaments I entered. I also won on the cash tables each day. By the end of the week, I was over $1,500 up! I drank way too much on Tuesday and really paid of it all day Wednesday...

I got back from Vegas last Friday, so I was rested for yesterday's race. It was your typical 4 corner crit. Nice and flat (false flat at the most). I raced in the 40+. I'm surprised at how well I felt; not tired or flat from not riding in a week. A break got up the road and I tried to get across a little too late. I came within ~5 seconds of catching but just couldn't do it. I took the field sprint for 12th overall.

Today is my Birthday and Trish gave me the Garmin 705! PowerTAP also recently anounced they will have a field upgrade available soon to be compatible with the 705. All the data you could ever want to look at! For those that know me, I get lost stepping out the front door, so I'm really excited to really go exploring on the bike and not have to worry about getting lost.

It's Hot!!!

In typical Philadelphia weather fashion, we had no time to acclimate to the warm weather. Today was the 1st time it reached over 90 and humid. At race time it was upper 90's (my car thermometer read 100 degrees). Usually we get some upper 90s and humidity by this time, but not this year. For yesterday's ride, it was 66 degrees and I was actually a little chilly. What a difference a day makes! I had trouble breathing in the heat and humidity. I feel sorry for the Pro's racing in Philadelphia tomorrow as they too have had no time to acclimate.

I did the 35+ at the Watermelon Crit today. Anyone placing in the money usually gets a watermelon or some other type of bake goods. In the past few years, I've won a watermelon, coconuts, a pot of flowers and a cherry pie. Not much to report other than Mark Light rolled off the front (must have been 1/2 way through or earlier in the race). He didn't attack, he just kind of rolled off. No one chased and he was gone. At some point I was on the wrong side of a split. It took me going to my max to make contact with the pack. Tom bridges to another rider who was in front of us and they hold the pack off the last 3 or so laps. Tom takes 2nd overall.

Walt tries to lead me out but I get gapped in the 2nd to last turn. I go to the max again to try and get to his wheel. In hindsight, I should have floated back and let the other teams take me back up. I'm kinda wasted by the last turn and get passed by 4 riders and take 8th overall. I really hate racing in the heat, it really messes with my asthma...

Racer's Worst Nightmare!!!

Check this photo out from a race held in Mexico. Apparently the driver was drunk, feel asleep, and plowed into a bike race (I'm assuming this is real as I grabbed the photo off of CNN). Once racer died in the accident (looking at the photo, I'm surprised no one else died). I hope they give the driver the death sentence!

Habitat Circuit Race

Today was our club's race; the Habitat for Humanity Circuit Race held in the Norristown Farm Park. Held on a 2.25 mile circuit with a 'moderate' sized hill to the finish (really, it was not flat like yesterday). There's also a 90 degree turn into a very narrow bridge on the backside; no more than 2 aside can fit through and if you aren't in the top 3, you will come to a near stop. Cat 3 only field with 52 racers. We did 16 laps.

I won't bore anyone with my meaningless recap as I really didn't do shit but hang on and finish (17th overall). There was however, one very interesting event that occurred that I've never seen before in a bike race. On the first lap at the fastest point in the race (we were going over 30mph) I look to my right and see a deer running along side us. I kept thinking, 'please don't freak out deer, please don't freak out deer'. I look at Eric who was right next to me and tell him this will be trouble and can get very ugly. I took another look at the deer and he makes a right turn and heads right at me. He just missed me but not the rider behind me. When I look back, it looks like the entire field is either on the pavement or going off into the grass. I was in ~15th place and was the last one who made it past the kamikaze deer.

After the race, I found out the peleton actually killed the deer by hitting it, running it over, etc. That's some crazy ass thing to happen during a race. I've been in races where dogs have taken out the pack, but a full out sprinting deer is a new one to me!