Stupid Hurts

I ambled up to the registration point trying my best to affect my usual cocky swagger.
“Is this where I register for the Rwanda alleycat?“
”Yeah, but ummmm, you can’t walk.“ Pointing out the fact I had limped up to the place they were sitting, and that I was currently leaning all of my weight on my bike.
”It is ok this isn’t not a foot race.“
”Ok sign the waiver“
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At first I was going to pass on this race due to the torn leg muscle in my left leg thats been giving me grief for the past week or so. But when I got to the start point and started listening to people talk strategy I couldn’t pass on a chance to ride hard. I got out and soon got past the pain, and I was reminded why I love doing this. For the first three check points I paced the guys who would go on to place 1st and 2nd. I think I threw the race away for myself because the guy who came in first ran away from while I was getting my manifest signed at a check point and I passed the guy who came in 2nd when he crashed. I think I should have waited for him to get up. Instead I tried to pace someone else who turned out to not be fast enough for me his 16-17mph to my 20-23, which in the end resulted in me being lost by myself in Candler Park. [newline]

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The after party was pretty awesome. In fact that was one of the best burgers someone has grilled for me in a long time. The Octane coffee shop hosted us in their parking lot. My leg was thoroughly trashed by the time I found a chair, and I was lost from being in an unfamiliar part of town. But, I wouldn’t have changed it. [newline]

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Once it got too cold to hangout outside we saddled up and crashed several other parties before calling it a night. So much for proper post race recovery. I actually didn’t get off my bike till 4 a.m.

Now I just have to repair the damage I did to my road bike.
Looking back.

I basically broke my right shifter, and I can’t find one for less than $200

So after spending all night up stressing over the quality of my work, I neglected to find out if the newspaper even ran my photos from “The Ride Of Silence.” Plus I am pretty sure that I wrote my phone number down incorrectly on the contact sheet I filled out. I also found out I missed a chance to be on the front page of the newspaper by taking “ride you bike to work day” off from work.

Actually last week kept me pretty busy. The latter part of my week was spent out at lake McMurty riding the mountain bike trails and testing out snack foods for work. Me and one of my co-workers spent several days out riding the trails, jumping creeks and bouncing off trees so we could report our findings to the trail committee. Honestly the effort kicked my ass. I remember standing in the shop on Saturday thing to myself, ” my left leg hurts and my right leg in numb.” When my co-worker walks up and ask me if I am riding, I responded, “of course.”

During the course of our trips out to the lake I have pulled upwards 15 ticks off of my legs. To make matter worse, when I unlaced my shoes I found about 6 ticks on the tongue underneath the laces. Needless to say I just left those shoes outside.