Diablo Junction 23 miles
Saturday I went to the Family Education Day for Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis; my 4year old daughter has this affliction and she’s doing quite nicely but we are always aware that it may reappear at any time so we keep informed by staying involved.
Anyway, since the Handicapped Hurl Ride is Wednesday I wanted to have a good ride in me before then so I went Sunday morning by myself. Before I got going I logged on to CyclingNews.com to read the live coverage of the Ronde van Vlanderen – definitely my favorite spring classic – Hincapie, Boonen, van Bon, and Musseuw were all there near the end so I couldn’t tear myself away. I also noticed the “Low Battery” indicator on my Flight Deck so I changed that while I was following the race.
The time had just changed to DST so it was barely past dawn when I started up at 8am. I was hoping for a warm sunny morning but I got cold and windy instead. The headwinds the first couple miles really slowed me down but I steeled my resolve and pushed hard. At the 3-mile to go point I thought I had a chance of breaking 40 but it would take everything I had. With two miles to go I didn’t think I would make it but I kept my head down and my cadence up. With one mile to go I knew it would be a good time but not sub-40 and I continued to hammer and finished at 41m18s.
When I got home I put on my new tires (purple Pro Race again), polished up my frame with Bike Lust, and fine-tuned the brakes and gears.
My goal for the Hurl Ride is 38 minutes flat: that’ll be 30 seconds faster than my current PB and 50 seconds faster than last year’s Hurl Ride. Last year my goal was 40 minutes and I beat that by over a minute so this year I figure I’ll toss caution to the wind and go for the glory. If I don’t make it at least I’ll have the satisfaction of stirring things up a bit – since it’s a handicapped race we’re doing a staggered start and JB will be forced to set a faster goal than me or else I’ll be starting first… he won’t agree to that.
One more bit of news – Adam won the Cat 3 race of the Santa Rosa criterium Saturday – a well deserved trophy.
I’m riding the Tour de Cure charity ride for the American Diabetes Association. Please visit my sponsorship page and donate $5 – I’d really appreciate it. Thanks. Scott
http://tour.diabetes.org/site/TR?pg=personal&fr_id=1678&px=1722708
