So I'll start with the shortest of reduxes. After the Skagit circuit race, I decided that wearing anything other than a long-sleeve skinsuit was for total squares because A) no race in the NW is long enough to require you to have anything in your pockets, and B) they make you feel like an eel! So I raced Gig Harbor in one, and got to wonder why Stanko was pulling back every break. Then I got to race Carnation in one, and follow Ian through the picture-skew farm land with its whitewashed fences.
I had been pondering an east coast trip to race GMSR and Chris Thater, but after much consideration of my national resources, and realizing that the RR at GMSR might require me to break my skinsuit streak, I decided to save my pennies so that I could buy some silver bullets for my TT bike instead. Well lucky me because Chris Thater got hurricaned out! And Gabe got to win the KOM shirt at GMSR, which I probably would have won instead if I had gone. You're welcome, Gabe!
So then came the fall and winter. Short summary: hiking, bike touring (with pan-yays), body paint, a love-hate relationship with coffee, and a lot of riding in the Snoqualmie Valley. Maybe I'll go into some of those topics another time. For now I want to talk about emerging from the groggy vitamin D deficiency of winter.
Avid readers will remember that last year kicked off with Cherry Pie road race, and even more controversially, the Jack Frost TT in Vancouver, WA. Well this year I decided to skip the road race and go straight for the controversy. Now. Last year's controversy was a two-part controversy. Part I was when I Tokyo drifted my way to a 30-second penalty and nearly went bowling for Cat 3 Women in the oncoming lane. Part II was Tom's reaction to my post. More drama than an episode of Downtown Abbey.
Well this year was a little less controversial, continuing the theme that, as I become more #committed as a bike racer, my life becomes less and less interesting. So as a non-OBRALAND member, I had to come check in for the TT at 8:00am, even though my start time wasn't until 12:42:30*. So I did, got the OK from the officials that the start times were final, and headed back to my friend's place for breakfast. Then I came back to warm up and race, and what should I find? Well if you looked at the asterisk from two sentences ago, you'd know. I pleaded with the officials, placing a soft towel on the ground so that I could get on my knees to beg without scuffing my leg warmers, and they finally gave me a new time.
(When I warm up, I picture people cheering my name.In this case, they were shouting "Gibson! You are missing your start!)
So I went and raced, being sure to duck the whole to avoid the booby traps (this was Oregon, so it was technically an adventure race and not a bike race).
So now the off-season is over, hopefully along with my bloff-season.
Now I'm in Merced getting ready for the Merco stage race. There's some serious racers here, but whenever I get scared, Joe Holmes placates me with one of his countless stock phrases. The one that comes to mind is the one I'll leave you with**: "Just remember, all those guys put their shorts on one leg at a time."
*That's right, I expect my readers to refer to foot notes! The officials, some point after telling me that the times were final, moved them all 6 minutes earlier. For all you non-math majors and WWU students, that means my new start time was 12:36:30!!
**Other gems from the trip have included, but have not been limited to:
- "8:00 start on Sunday? Really? That is--and I mean this in every non-PC way--that is f-----g retarded."
- "The thing you gotta know about me is, [insert whatever Joe feels like doing at that moment]."
- "I'm all about getting outside to ride if at all possible." (as he leaves to go ride)
- "I'm all about cutting your losses." (as he comes back 10 minutes later, drenched)
- "Oh look, a Prius, ruining everything."
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