The Dead Dog

This past weekend was the Dead Dog Stage Race up in scenic Laramie, WY. The road race is a monster... 86 miles of climbing and descending, all above 7500 feet, and two trips over the 11,000+ foot pass. My legs were fairly "wooden" at the base of the first real climb. Ugh... I eventually came off the group, but stayed persistant, holding a steady pace, and I kept picking up riders along the way. Eventually I caught some guys going pretty well, and together we chased back onto the main group just after the summit of the pass the first time through. Unfortunately coming back up the pass again, after the turnaround, the legs were having none of it. So chasing again. I got into a little group with some guys, but they were mostly content to spin along so we were going slowly. I knew Randy would be coming up, so once he did, I jumped on, and we went down the far side togther, and most of the way home. It was a warm and gorgeous day up there. That ride is really sweet, it would be fun to do it sometime, just for fun, and not at race-pace so you could look around and enjoy the sights.

Sunday was the Crit and the TT. The crit went well. I felt good, and did a ton of work for the boys on the team. We ended up with 2nd and 5th in the race, a great result, even though we were working hard for the win. It will just make us that much more hungry next time! After Saturday, and then lots of work in the crit, and the TT just 1.5 hours after the finish of the crit; my legs were pretty toasty. Plus, there wasn't anyone coming up behind, or much of a chance for me to move up (on time), so the motivation was low, and it quickly turned into a "trainer ride" on the TT bike.

Not a bad weekend. I didn't feel great, but I didn't feel like poo either. Adding it to the "experience files".

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I rode to work each morning. Nice little spins, plus the fact that Wednesday was bike to work day, so gotta represent. This weekend is the Sunshine Hill Climb. Not my favorite hill climb, but why not get up entirely too early on Saturday, pay some money to ride a climb I do more days than not, and work as hard as you can for 50 minutes or so. The best part of early morning hill climbs, is that it means a free ticket to be as lazy, or as productive, as you want for the rest of the day. I'm hoping for BBQ, beer, quoits, and fireworks to round out Saturday after the race...