Sunday, October 18, 2009

Alternative Perspective

Sadly this is another post about CX and not a post in praise of Mark Mckay's reggae review column in the old Boston zine AP(not to be confused with the Vogue with music AP you can get now a days).
Anyway, raced Brockton on Saturday. Got a cramp on the run up on the first lap and pretty much suffered through the rest of the race. Peddling was OK, but I was shuffling more than running. Whatever, it's just a cramp. Well the cramp didn't go away and didn't respond to ice, rolling, heat, massage, ibuprofen, or prayer. So I awoke Sunday morning and realized I was not going to be racing. Some kind of lame muscle strain or pull or something.
Rolled over to the usual rendezvous and got Nick and Billy. Rain started up and kept getting stronger the closer we got to Wrentham. I was theoretically ok with driving and watching, but as we drove down North St and I saw the course, I was pretty bummed I wouldn't be racing.
Regardless, I put on a fresh pamper and got ready to cheer for the crew. Based on watching the pro races, I knew there were a few things I could do that might be helpful so I strapped on Nick's rubber boots and got busy. Dropped off a mismatched set of wheels in the pit (even though Gunnar dude and dog were in full effect). Walked over to the start and collected jackets so dudes could try and stay warm and/or dry. This gets a fail when cars pulled on to the course a minute before the start. 10 minute staging was pretty brutal in these conditions. Nick was 3rd row and Billy was in the back and the race started.
Now my only purpose for being there was to yell. So I did my best to yell out positions and times to the rider ahead. Nick stayed in the front 7 all race and Billy was picking people off every lap. Once the end was in sight, I watched the finish and then ran back to crank the heat in the car. Nick got 6th, Billy got 11th and I got a DNS.
I didn't realize how bummed I was about not racing until I was on my way home. Taking next week off, so it will be a while til I am back in the mix. Hopefully I won't come up with anymore ways to malfunction between now and then.

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