Shawntoberfest and Deadgoat Cross
Sometime around 6pm, Erik and I jumped into the car and headed down to Tubby Dog. The occassion? Shawntoberfest (Shawn Bunnin's 25th birthday). Though it was officially a bike pub craw, we wlected to drive so that we wouldn't be tempted to get carried away in the evening's festivities. That lasted about 10 minutes. There's something about sinking your teeth into a 2,000 calorie heap of chili, space cheese, and weiner on a white bun that puts you into a different frame of mind (I usually indulge in these things at the end of a bender, not the beginning - maybe that's the trick).
Before we knew it, we were at Melrose Place for some jager bombs, then it was the Ship and Anchor for a brew, then Ducky's Pub for some Karaoke. Eventually we found ourselves in front of a pizza place with four bikes piled on top of a garbage can (for safety??) and realized it was time to pack it in. Erik and I made it through our front door at 3:30am, feeling young and carefree, but happy to go to sleep.
We were out of bed just three hours later (feeling exactly the opposite of when our heads had hit the pillow) to help set up the course for the Deadgoat/Schmoe Cyclocross race. The task of course design and construction required slightly more independent thought and focus than at least I was capable of. But, somehow, I faked my way through it (it's a good thing that Lonn had a starting vision from which we could build). By the time that all of the stakes were in the ground, I began to think that it might actually be fun to race. What was there to lose? I couldn't feel any worse than I already did.
I'm not sure what the magic ingredient was (perhaps it is best that it remain a mystery, lest I be tempted to try to replicate it), but it was one of my best races of the season - coming in second to Pepper Harlton. I had the pleasure of having many of my good cycling friends out to cheer - Erik, Mical, Brenda, David, Keith, Devin, Tracey, PND, Bill, Bill, Olga, Alana, Clair, Shawn, Hillary, and Linda, to name a few. Mical ran beside me screaming wonderful things at me for several laps - which was awesome. She's an inspiration when she's riding ahead of me and it is so cool when she's out there cheering for me too.
All in all, not a bad way to spend a weekend. But, I'm not sure how often this old body can take a beating like that.
Before we knew it, we were at Melrose Place for some jager bombs, then it was the Ship and Anchor for a brew, then Ducky's Pub for some Karaoke. Eventually we found ourselves in front of a pizza place with four bikes piled on top of a garbage can (for safety??) and realized it was time to pack it in. Erik and I made it through our front door at 3:30am, feeling young and carefree, but happy to go to sleep.
We were out of bed just three hours later (feeling exactly the opposite of when our heads had hit the pillow) to help set up the course for the Deadgoat/Schmoe Cyclocross race. The task of course design and construction required slightly more independent thought and focus than at least I was capable of. But, somehow, I faked my way through it (it's a good thing that Lonn had a starting vision from which we could build). By the time that all of the stakes were in the ground, I began to think that it might actually be fun to race. What was there to lose? I couldn't feel any worse than I already did.
I'm not sure what the magic ingredient was (perhaps it is best that it remain a mystery, lest I be tempted to try to replicate it), but it was one of my best races of the season - coming in second to Pepper Harlton. I had the pleasure of having many of my good cycling friends out to cheer - Erik, Mical, Brenda, David, Keith, Devin, Tracey, PND, Bill, Bill, Olga, Alana, Clair, Shawn, Hillary, and Linda, to name a few. Mical ran beside me screaming wonderful things at me for several laps - which was awesome. She's an inspiration when she's riding ahead of me and it is so cool when she's out there cheering for me too.
All in all, not a bad way to spend a weekend. But, I'm not sure how often this old body can take a beating like that.
posted by tori at
9:52 AM
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