Are You Living It?

This week was my first Southern Oregon Thursday Night Race. The race is held at the Champion Drag Strip in White City, Oregon. It is a mix between a Criterium and a Circuit race with the course taking you down the Drag Strip and circling back on an access road for a lap of just over a mile. As we were riding warm up laps, I went into a corner and suddenly my front tire decided it was tired of turning and slid across the road. I of course was not yet ready to give up on the turn and continued to lean in the opposite direction until I was stopped by the very firm pavement.

At 25 MPH it took a few yards to finally stop my slide. I felt like a curling stone gliding across the ice, very rough ice. Thank goodness for my protective Lycra jersey and bibs! I think these are designed just like a helmet, completely disintegrating while attempting to absorb the impact. This seems to be much more effective with helmets protecting your head, than the thin layer of Lycra absorbing the forces of abrasion. After making sure all my parts worked, I hobbled over to the turn trying to figure out what made me lose traction. The road was clear except for a couple of small pieces of angular gravel. Still confused I picked up my bike and then realized the front tire was flat. I figured I must have pinch flatted the tire as I entered the turn.

Lucky for me there was still time to patch both my tire and myself before the race began! I rolled up to the line just as the race started. The accelerations of the pack felt pretty good on my leg, but my right buttock kept cramping when I pushed too hard. I made it into lap number 5 before getting a rear flat and having to pit. When the race leaders finished, I was down a lap and feeling a bit sore. Even though I touched the ground, I had a good time on the course and was looking forward to next weeks race. By the time I was changed, and we were putting the bikes back on the car, I found that the front tire was again flat. I had 3 flats in one race. That’s more flat tires than I have had in the past 2 years combined!

Friday morning it took almost 2 hours to get ready for work, the first was just getting out of bed! Oh was I sore. Somehow I had aged 50 years overnight and couldn’t find my walker. My work day had to be shortend, as I got tired much quicker at 93 years old. The couch was calling me when I got back home and I decided it would be safer to stay on it, rather than go for a ride.

Saturday I began to think about the 100 mile ride scheduled for Sunday. I decided to give it a try and put in almost 2 miles riding around the block. That was plenty. I was able to ride and I figured I had better rest up for Sunday.

Sunday morning the sun was out and we met in Mount Shasta to begin our last 100 mile training ride for the upcoming Elkhorn Classic Stage Race (website). We rode over the hill to McCLoud and continued to the McCloud Reservoir. The scenery is wonderful and the roads are in great condition, for the most part. There is a mix of climbing and rolling hills. The McCloud Reservoir is emerald green and a pleasure to ride along. After returning to the town of McCLoud, we headed out to pilgrim Creek road and made a 40 mile out and back, before heading over McCLoud Summit to Mount Shasta. For me, this was the most difficult 100 mile training ride so far, not due to the terrain but to my sore hip and butt. My team mates fared well and felt it was not as hard as some of our others. I will be winding down the mileage over the next week, and looking forward to the start of Elkhorn on June 20. Now where is that walker?