Afton it is

Last night I could have and should have done Opus, but 1. I don’t have my new kit yet. And 2. I really wasn’t interested in getting my butt kicked by the Cat 1/2/3 women just yet. I’m going to save that for Saturday. Yep. I’m going to do Durand.

Here’s a tip. Do not be expecting a high placing from me. It’s an open women’s field—all levels, there are tons of hills, and I have no idea how I fair against the other women this year. I was going to blow this race off, but I’ve got the fever—to race. Durand will give me a good idea what to expect come Ken Woods and Marty. I’m nervous as hell about the first race, but I’m equally excited to get out there and put the hammer down.

So, last night I battled the traffic and got to Afton about a half hour late. Jackie, Jen, and I jumped on the bikes for a 32 mile hill workout. Nothing crazy since Jackie is still trying to get her racing legs back. The look on Jackie’s face when we climbed this pretty long hill then stopped at the top and said now we go down the hill was priceless. Jen, new to racing and group riding, got to practice being boxed in.

We went down the same road I rode down with the Loon’s on Saturday. Amazing how easy those hills are when you don’t have 50+ miles in your legs.

Last night I found out a friend of mine was in a hit and run accident while on his bike. He’s fine after 17 stitches in his leg. But, the police don’t think they will catch the driver even though they have a license plate number and two witnesses. The police said in most cases they change ownership in the car then play the “I wasn’t driving the car” game. BULLSHIT!

This morning was Jody’s spin class. To make sure I was toast I did sprints on the track. If you’re wondering why I’m running when bike racing season is just starting—I’m working on my heart rate. Maybe not the best idea, but I can get my heart rate pretty high in a short amount of time and keep it there or work on keeping it low when it wants to go to an extreme level. I’m hoping this will translate into success on the bike. We’ll see.