standing at the line at Greenbrier.

photo by JR Petsko

good day on the bike
darn good day on the bike

lined up at Greenbrier with the Clydesdales
some familiar faces and some new faces
lots of faces missing

funny... some other people racing at Greenbrier used to be Clydesdales are now faster non-Clydesdales

the bike held up well... thanks Chris Merriam for putting it in the stand and giving it the TLC it needed to be race worthy
the body felt good
it hurt... I was tired... I nearly cracked a few times... and I pretty much bonked

this mild winter allowed me to get to a certain level of fitness
then I let it drop off
need to pick up the tempo 
not because the ten seconds
because it should not hurt that bad

also... when I dismounted and marched durning the race.... I dismounted and marched early
was scared of cramping
had no cramping
glad I did not cramp... but I could have been faster to ride further into each climb

it was a fast group that I was able to lead and hold off
but really... had I sneezed I would have lost my position

the top five were within 4 minutes

funny... coming down the line on the grass less than a hundred yards from the finish I got stung by a hornet
I think I am more allergic to bees than to hornets
and hornets can sting multiple times and bees sting one nasty time and die as their insides get town our as they try to fly away and the stinger remains... along with the insides of the now dead bee
no matter... after a short injection of venemo I was able to swat the bastard away and roll into the finishling
smiling.... hot tired and smiling

a good day on the bike
a darn good day on the bike