Eeeshk, that was kind of sketchy. Ok, it wasn’t that bad. But the corners where the cones were on the inside were pretty bad.
The race was just hard though. Hard right from “go.” I knew H&R Block was going to be aggressive, so I guess I was ready for it. I knew they weren’t going to leave Aaron and Dan out there, so I was waiting for them to chase or something. Then Mark attacked, and I really hesitated. Then it was reasonably chill for a bit, then Ryan attacked. I knew that was going to get across, so I tried to jump on his wheel; to no avail. Dang! That hurt! And definitely didn’t get me anywhere…
So I suffered and it took everything I could do just to hang onto the back of the splintering pack. Nope. Can’t do that either…
So I pulled out, hoping for a better ride tomorrow.
Then it made me realize that I think I’ve matured as a bike racer. I am much happier knowing that I did absolutely everything I could do have a chance at winning and lost. I played my cards. I didn’t hold them close and sit idly by. I lost. But I didn’t sit around waiting to finish 10th in the pack. I am much happier knowing that I tried to win and lost.
Dave had a great ride getting up to the break after my failed attempt, but was vastly outnumbered. And the H&R guys rode it perfectly sweeping the top 5. It sucks, but my hat is still off to them.
“You can’t lose what you don’t put in the middle. But you can’t win much either…”
I was watching ER with my parents the other day (a show I don’t normally watch, but have enjoyed in the past). It always amazes me how much doctors know! I mean, everybody knows that it takes a lot to become a doctor or even just to get into med school.
But we are negative when we have to go to doctors. We get upset when they can’t diagnose our problems right away. And we can’t believe that they might be wrong or may make a mistake. We all make mistakes.
So I just have to say that I’m on their side. I know how hard stuff can be to diagnose, etc. But man! Doctors know a lot of stuff!
I just saw Ironman tonight. It was amazing! One of those movies that I saw and thought I might want to see, but probably wouldn’t have if Brad hadn’t wanted to see it. But man, it was great! I would totally suggest it to anybody!
I have to say that I always get these great blog post ideas in my head going through my day. But I forget half of them by the time I get around to it and the other half I start to write and it turns into a two sentence piece of junk! Weird…
But there are definitely certain blog posts and certain styles that I enjoy, that I look forward to and some that are almost a chore and/or I just skip. So keep things interesting. Keep it short and sweet. Don’t blog for the sake of blogging… have something to say. But that being said, you don’t need to please anybody. Just skip it, say what’s on your mind.
And on that note, look forward to a bunch of posts of thoughts that came up in a wicked bible study last night!
The last little bit has been a little on the crazy side for me. I told Bruce that I was running like a chicken with my head cut off this afternoon…
But I’ve been having fun. I’m enjoying things. I’m passionate. It’s good.
My pizza is coming along. My dad said tonight’s was the best he could remember. I also managed to make a dessert calzone! Nutella and banana… Mmm!!
Last night’s dinner turned into a bit of a surprise…
Simple grilled chicken and a zucchini salad (for which I only found the recipe because I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do with the zucchini I had in the fridge…). It was delicious! Mmm… summer grilling!
The other day I was reminiscing of the the old May long weekends. All the Lendrum families used to get together and celebrate summer by going camping at Slave Lake. It was always good times.
It also made me remember that I love camping. I loved going with Mike and my dad last November. I just love it! But I think I like racing my bike much more. It’s all about priorities…
After a wet and cold forecast we ended up with a beautiful couple days.
Yesterday we went out super early and had a great couple hours on the road with Bruce. We just worked hard pulling through all day until we exploded.
Today we headed with Jason and had another good ride. We met my mom near Devon for her to do her longest ride yet in preparation for the MS150.
Then I read this post from Molly Cameron. It got me thinking about why we (cyclists) do what we do. Or why anybody does a certain job? Everything is tying together in my brain as I’m typing this now… Don’s sermon this morning was about God’s provision and how we don’t have to worry. We still need money to function, but do we spend every minute of every day worrying about money or worrying about having.
Make as much as you can without worrying about it and stressing yourself out beyond reason. That’s about as simple as I can make it.
Yup, definitely do not like the rain! It was almost impossible to motivate myself to ride the last couple days. Especially after the beautiful sunshine on the weekend! I think I would definitely take -5 and snow over 10 and rain.
But, it’s raining, and I’m a cyclist; so get over it!
I knew that in the best case scenario in the crit on Monday I could gain some time bonuses and some GC places. Or I could maintain with a pack that stayed together. Or I could lose, be slow, or crash.
I ended up in the middle with a pretty decent ride. The first 20 minutes were pretty hard, but then it eased up, but I boxed myself in for the sprint again. But at least I could finish with some serious wattage on this day.
I also won some money to buy myself some new sunglasses… can’t wait!
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