Blather on Bicycling

A few years ago when I first started racing, I had my first chance to compare my TT time to Armstrong. Since then, I have anticipated any the opportunity for comparison to what has become my benchmark of me vs world’s best. Armstrong is a former world champion and now reigning gold medalist. Usually I got trounced by a couple minutes, so when I lined up with her this weekend at Slammer I wasn’t very optimistic. Kristin promptly got in the break, I thought I had once again fallen short of my mark.

A few laps later, I began going really fast on the downwind section. In fact, it was so fast our pace car was spun out too. Soon it was a group of 3 of us chasing the break. As 2 riders began appearing before us, the crux of my race occurred.
Act 1: This is a simple case. Rider 1 of 2 was MC Hammer. This was the same MC Hammer that on lap one (after my warm-up attack) rolled beside me and arranged for us to do something together on lap 3. Then, I looked up a minute later and he was in a breakaway. So, I stayed true to his word and did something at the exact same place we had our conversation, but on lap 3 as planned. So when I encountered Hammer on lap 3 he was pedaling backward and wasn’t there very long to do anything with me.

Act 2: My gold standard was rider 2. I knew I had her on the ropes. My tempo pace on the miniature and only climb of the Slammer course unhitched her and the others. I had to put in the dagger. Unfortunately, it was deja vu all over again like last year’s Slammer but this time it was like deja vu all over again. I was in no man’s land riding by myself and my legs were cramping. I dug deep. Ponch understood the gravity of the situation, because he rolled up beside me and, instead of giving me the time check to the leaders, he told me “one at 20 seconds, two at 40 seconds. . .” Fear struck me as the world champion was on my heels. I expected her to come storming by me at any moment so I struggled to keep my legs moving. It seemed like an eternity to the finish. Meanwhile, Kristin was back there ambivalent to what I was attempting, flashing her gold medal at me every time I looked back. In the end, I prevailed. I had transcended my standard. . .rewrote the record books. . .entered unprecedented territory. She didn’t care.