Let me get rid of the 800 lbs. elephant in the room: YES! I completed the faux hawk and it is now officially a 'Euro-mullet'. Not only that, my barber left a little 'ponytail' at the end as a kind of icing on the cake...or rather the parmesean on the pasta?!?!?! any takers? Rats, I was 'trying' to be Euro for a moment. Sigh...guess I do need to start wearing ripped jeans and get diamond studs?!
Now, about that pro life.
Saturday morning I departed for the Cantua Creek RR in the middle of nowhere, CA. Google it and you'll find it really is in the middle of nowhere. Not surprisingly though, this place fills up with crazy-ass cyclists bout this time each year. My group was full with 50 peeps and the race was a nice 52 miles. Not too bad. What made the course interesting were the long, LONG straight sections. Which made attacking really stupid cuz now we can all see you down the road! Simply put: It's like a bull chasing the red. Anyways, attacks went on and matches were consistently burned left and right. Pointless...almost like Oprah magazine. Not that I know, mind you!
Anyways, second lap begins and I throw down 600 watts for 30 seconds and no one is there. Soon enough 2 guys bridge and we have a break that sticks! Woo hoo! We start motoring and then I realize how in the red zone I am! I am truly suffering just to stay in the break! And that's when I stand up out of the saddle and realize I had been riding with a flat all day. Of course it gets worse and I'm forced to pull over and the break goes on with out me. And to think, those guys went 1 and 2! AAAAAHHHHH! By the time I replaced the wheel, the main group had long passed. I hopped on the bike and was bound to TT it all the way in. Crossing the line I knew I was gunna make people pay tomorrow.
That night, I found the whole foods in Fresno, pounded 6 bananas, a Stevia Cola [cola sweetened with Stevia and caffeine free! yes!] and a quality vegan sandwich [I was also introduced to 'field roast' a tofu alternative to a roast...super good!]. The hotel I stayed at was clean, friendly staff and that's about it. Rap music blared out at odd hours but I slept soundly for the most part!
Up at 5am to race Pine Flat. A climbers course with a 2 mile club at the end and then one more climb to the finish. The type of people that showed up for this race was very different than from yesterday. No big thighed guys but instead, slender and lean folks all with climber physiques. Of course, me not knowing what the hell I am I just went along and said 'in my country...they would go crazy for this one! that one...eh...not so much' [from Borat the movie]. Race began and the bunch stayed together. People were nervous about the major climbs and as well they should be. I was gunna f their shit up. No doubt.
Climb begins and pace is fast. I'm in the top 5 group and I see a lull - legs not turning correctly - and then I attack [there was one guy up the road at the time] @ 500 watts for 30 seconds. Only one guy can hang and he and I decide to jam it on the downhill together. It was narrow and windy but very cool to hit speeds at 77 km/h. Suddenly, I drop my chain and he pulls away. Oh well to second place. At which point, I TT it in for a podium spot and third place. Not too shabby I say. =)
p.s. I ate field roast again tonite. Go get you some and holler at a brother when you try it. Don't say I didn't warn you about it's addictive properties though...
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