Back to MN

Saturday was an uneventful drive out of Pennsylvania, as we had been kicked out of the apartment that morning. Made it to somewhere just across the Illinois-Wisconsin border, and went to sleep, with plans to wake up and leave early enough to get to Blaine for the District timed events Sunday afternoon at 2:00.

Left as planned Sunday, dropped things off at home, and went straight to the track. It was a bit like having an out of body experience. I would ride, but not feel anything in my legs. They didn't hurt. They didn't feel good. They didn't feel responsive. They didn't feel stale. Nothing. I put on the new fork I got from Soupy, jumped on my rollers, and waited for my kilo heat.

If there was any lack of sensation in my legs earlier, the kilo solved that problem. Coming down the backstretch, all I could think of was Art announcing in T-Town, yelling, "And the bear is on his back now!" There was definitely a bear on my back. Maybe the same one that attacked Ed. It ended, Dan Currell won, Chris Ferris was second, and I took third. Not too bad, but not very fast, either.

The individual pursuit was after that. Thinking back, I don't believe I've ever actually done a 4 km pursuit before. So I guess at a schedule, aimed for 5:00 minutes, and took off. Well, I didn't hit 5:00. I would up with a 5:07 and change, but that was enough to win. Now, when I say "win," I need to qualify that. I won for the category 1/2 riders. But Timmer won it all, going under 5 minutes with a 4:59 as a cat. 3, and Joe Johnson turned a 5:05 and change in the cat. 4/5. So it was a dubious win. Oh well, it got me the endurance qualification I needed for Elite Nationals, so I guess it worked.

In the team sprint, Hans, Franz, and Dan Currell ripped off an amazing ride, with a time in the 49 second range, setting new district record. These guys are targeting Elite Nat's this year, and I think they have a very decent shot. There aren't many people who can produce a ride like that, much less in their first year of racing on the track. Keep an eye on these guys. They may look more like linemen than bicycle racers, but they can sprint with the best of them.

Dan, Timmer, Cullen and I pulled together a team pursuit at the end of the event, and while we went fast enough to win, we only beat Timmer's individual time by less than 3 seconds. More practice is in order...

When it was all said and done, I had spent nearly 6 hours at the track on Sunday, came home, and crashed. Since then, I've pretty much just been sleeping and eating. I'm glad to be back.