Make Mine a Double

I decided that Sunday would be a good day to go to the beach. Obviously I rode my bike there. I went to Myrtle beach in South Carolina.

It turns out this is pretty far away. After a few wrong turns, two dirt roads to nowhere, and one snickers bar, I had ridden about 220 miles. It took 13 hours. I sunburned my legs. I drank a lot of water and helped a box turtle cross the road.

Lots of cyclists make a goal of the 100 mile bike ride, a century. Since it was memorial day weekend, I figured I should do a century, but got a little crazy and made mine a double.

Beaten

Someone beat me to the punch by a long shot. http://www.dhmo.org/

The internet is really really good at making us afraid. If I remember correctly it was razor blades in candied apples, food coloring, MSG, trans fats, and now high fructose corn syrup helping us to make the 'correct' purchases. Well, be on the lookout for dihydrogen monoxide. And remember, anything we don't understand is scary. Don't bother listening to those who do understand, they're out to get you.

Celebrities with well written testimonials, beautiful faces, and sparkling white teeth are the only ones that can be trusted. Anyone on television meets at least two of the previously mentioned three criteria for credibility, so I would take their word as gospel.

South Carolina

I raced last Saturday in South Carolina. It was both hot and humid. I went fast. I went slow. I fell down. I finished second. Someone took a picture of my pedal. I was excluded from this photo.

Anti Climax

Generally speaking I am a fan of climax. Lately however, there has a been a serious lack thereof.

Two weeks ago I spent three months training for a race. Instead of going really fast by racing hard (climax) I raced like a sissy girl (anti).

Yesterday I drove with roomie and teamie to VA for an xc race. I cleaned my bike. I ate a low fiber high energy breakfast four hours before start time. I drank coffee two hours before start time. I went to register one hour before start time. These steps are the foreplay of bike racing. I was mentally and physically prepared. After four hours in the car the anticipation was killing me.

Then they did not take my money at registration. This is atypical. Half an hour later they announced that they were canceling the race. Not awesome. Regardless of the weather forecast I may start emailing promoters to make sure this won't happen again. Nobody likes a tease.