Ok officiating is over for me and now it's Sunday, crit racing time. I'm in no shape to be doing this especially in Cat4 but none the less I'm in! All the roadies are loving the ETSU kits and it's amazing how many positive comments we get on these. C.O.B. pulls out the skinsuit for this one hoping to get him down the stretch a little faster I think. Hillary, his wife, snaps this pic below while he's get'n in the zone. Hell I even warmed up on the trainer for 30 minutes prior to my race which is very unlike me, this just tells you I knew I was in for a butt whoopin' and not taking it lightly as I usually do.
C.O.B. races first in the 5's and he did very well, way to hang in there dude. I would say something about the pic of the ambulance in the previous post but we have already gave him enough hell.
This is AC and I early on before good sense told me I was out of my league. We were flyin'! After downloading my garmin we were running 35 mph (yea I know, nuthin' for you fast guys) on the straights every lap and one rider said his computer avg'd a 30mph overall crit. I was talking to Andy G. before the start, he told me to hang in for the first 10 minutes and it settles down. Ok, I can do that, I think to myself. After 15 minutes and over 10 laps I look at my garmin...... 27.2 avg and 15 minutes left to go. W~H~A~T?????? I don't have the fitness to be out here like this. I back off a little and coast backwards, I was surprised how many riders came around me too, I wasn't doing half bad, I just couldn't sustain that pace. In the end I knew I couldn't manage that pace for another 15 minutes. I jumped back on the pack after they lapped me and tried to give it another go but to no avail. I figured I should just get out of their way as not to upset someone's finish. Cat4's did somewhere around 21 laps, I got in 19 finishing 31st out of 40 something, anywho I had fun (insert cheesy smile) and at least I'm not wasting my money paying a trainer.
When everyone was finished we all lent a hand to pack stuff up so we could get to the "after party" at One12 and live up to this V.I.P. tag I was given. Free booze and appetizers were donated by the sponsor, People's Community Bank, for all volunteers and we took advantage of it! Yea that's me in the red turbin (a t-shirt / sweat absorbing device)! Just call me Shiek Igotamya$$handedtometoday Abdul Imaslowascrap Adi.
VIP yea you know me....... errrr OPP???
Believe it or not the guy on the left, Scott Stewart, was leaving for Tour de Swiss Monday after the race, he won the pro race up the mountain on Saturday. Brian Sheedy, on the right, got 2nd Saturday in the Roan then another second at the crit giving him the overall omnium win. After the Tour de Swiss Scott is headed to China to race with his Team Type 1 crew, that's pretty sweet that little ole Johnson City can pull some major celebs sometimes. Peter, not in the pic, is one of our Lees McRae College racing buddies and he pulled a 3rd overall this weekend so a big shoutout to our man Peter as well, good job all! (See C.O.B. smoozing the pros....)
Before the racing was over Jerome wrangled me for some more "officialing" help in the Pro, 1,2 crit. I had to watch for guys having flats and put them back in which happened more than a couple of times. Melissa came up to see if I was doing my job correctly.... Above in the pic is Brian Sheedy and Alder Martz, leading, one of the Hincappie development team riders from SC that broke away from the pack to finish one/two. Rumor is that they were flying over Sams Gap and one of Tennessee's finest issued both cars an invitation to the Trooper's Ball at $280 each.
they are still trying to close the bag....... I tried to use my smelly camel arm pits to rush the job of stuffing an EZ-UP back into the bag, it didn't work....
Ok one more event and I'm done until the end of August. The 2011 Night Owl mountain bike race at Hungry Mother State Park in Marion, Va. this Saturday night from 8:30 til.... Y'all come!!
LAter G......................
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