Michael Jackson died! I learned this yesterday when, during a family run for the most delicious root beer on earth, I glanced down at the headline on the news stand at the Summerville Store. I hope this post doesn’t contribute to slowing down the internet with all the high traffic his death is causing, but I thought I should let everyone know.
In other news about pop-star celebrities from the 80s and 90s, it’s Tour time again? I love this time of year. I’ve been enjoying the first week of action. The stages are exciting, with a chain gang of doping convicts sprinting up mountains in chase of Legstrong. It’s rewarding watching him crush the cheaters so decisively. I thought the channel had changed it’s name from the Only Lance Network (OLN) but apparently not.
I haven’t touched a bike yet since Elkhorn. Finally, everyone got a dose of Northeast Oregon weather for this year’s edition of the race. I rather enjoyed that. Usually the first hot days come Elkhorn weekend, so I don’t get any home court advantage. Seeing everyone whimping out of the Dooley stage and complaining about a cold-wet welcome in Union on Stage 1 gave me some satisfaction that they got a realistic picture of our riding. The last time I rode over Catherine Summit it was 25 degrees and I was on using both sides of the road to avoid sheets of ice. The conditions were much better for the race and, to my surprise, I survived the climb with the lead group for the first time ever at Elkhorn. That was my main goal for the whole weekend, and I wasn’t that confident it would happen given that the climb always gets me and I haven’t been riding any better this year. I could have turned around and went home after that and been happy.
I also escaped another season without a crash, but just by the skin of my shorts. Just before the final climb on Sunday, which happened to also be just after the end of the neutral rollout, I flatted. The wheel change took forever and apparently neutral support doesn’t include Campy support, so I was left with no shifting. What at first appeared to be bad luck, turned fortuitious when I rounded the next corner to see riders and debris everywhere. I never caught back up but ended up climbing bizarro-Dooley very well, by my standards. After doing some investigative work about how the crash went down (mostly from a guy thinking he broke a rib), I think I would have stayed upright regardless. At least the lucky flat kept me from reconfirming how effective my crash avoiding skills are. After all my racing success staying upright, I think I need to write a primer on how to avoid crashes.
On a somber note, it’s quite ridiculous the number of cyclists that are being killed my motorists especially in Idaho recently. I was saddened to hear of the tragedy of a former teammate and others recently killed. I have some advice on how to reduce risks of getting hit that mainly adds up to keeping your head up and expecting bad driving, but some of it just comes down to extremely bad luck and inattentive drivers.
Leave a Comment