Chilly Cheeks Du December ‘5

12.17.5 10:00am. Do you know where your thermometer is? ! bet it was hiding someplace warm. ! saw 14*. It was snowing. Light, fluffy flakes. All the well padded/insulated flakes were hoping not to fall. Basically the same course as last year except the out part of the bike went up the hill ‘o’ pain just like the Cherry Creek TT series races do. Since ! was early and it was bitterly cold outside ! decided to drive part of the course to see the reported ice patches. Not too bad. The snow flakes were too cold to stick. ! decided to use the tri-bike to destroy the enemy. During the pre-race meeting we determined that it was cold out. Also, Barb Kostner left her front brakes disconnected on purpose and the guy in the Santa suit wasn’t allowed to wear all the padding since his wife thought he might get it sweaty. Tanner came out to play. He stripped down to ALL of his race clothes and still muttered. He had his Fit-Beats banner up just before the finish line. Not where ! would have put it. Tanner, Tanner, Tanner. !’m a marketing genius. Anyone who was actually racing would have been illiterate by the time they came by there. Some of us are even when we’re not racing. This one was a 4 mile run then 11 miles on the bike. The starter girl asked us if we were ready. ! told her we weren’t. She started us anyway. The Team Ironclad guy wearing shorts and no hat over an 80s rocker supply of hair went off the front. !, of course, went out way too fast. ! hit a 5:07 pace (briefly) then backed off for a 7:21 1st mile. Then an 8:00, 8:27 and finally an 8:05. ! had to pick it up the last mile since ! had just been passed by a cute girl and ! was tired of reading the other guy’s ass. Just before 3 miles we crossed the bridge and ! could still see Tanner. He has really gotten slow. A quick transition and ! was off to get wind chill. There really wasn’t much wind. ! was a little scared to get on the aero bars @ first. They are so much lower than riding the ‘cross bike. ! made it through the icy section ok. Still, ! couldn’t really get going fast enough to run the heart rate up as high as ! could have. ! was passing the runners easily. At 3.5 miles ! saw the leader on his way back. Up the hill easily. ! passed 2 bikes and a Cherokee then onto the long descent. The snow was a bit heavier and there was a head wind. ! spotted Tanner. At that point about 1 mile ahead of me. He has gotten so slow. ! passed the girl w/ the basket and fenders on her hybrid. Around the tower loop dicing w/ the dude on a Lemond w/ aero bars. We went back and forth a few times. At the turn-off toward the swim beach the snow was heavy so ! slowed down and got passed by 2 mountain bikes. ! kept a safe pace until we got back to rejoin the main road. The downhill there was dry and clear. No wind. ! hit 32.2 mph. and got back by the Lemond guy. Since ! had scouted the ice section ! knew the return side line was only 3 inches wide in some sections so ! cut across to the left side of the road. The guy who tried to follow me found the ice and sent his bike up the road alone. Since he was too rude to answer when ! asked if he was ok, ! continued on. Another dude took a dive there behind him and then another. The lesson here is…Don’t follow the guy who has no clue what’s going on. Once ! cut back to the proper side of the road ! had to hunt down the Lemond guy and a couple others. It was getting windy now and my inner thighs were numb. It’s ok. The important parts were protected by my wind-proof underpants. Just in case ! get a date one day and……..Passed a couple more guys and diced w/ Lemond until the last climb where ! dumped his ass like in Laurent Fignon’s dreams. 1 k to go and ! had to hammer. ! wasn’t going to be sure of beating him until ! crossed the line. ! think he gave up since there wasn’t anyone threatening him. That’s soooo wrong. Results will be @ http://www.racingunderground.com/chillycheeks.html ! think ! went about 1:07 which is 7 minutes faster than last year on a 50* day. It’s got to be the carbon fiber disc wheel. That would have been good for 66th last year. Tanner had changed clothes, but not loaded up all his gear and left when ! got in. He’s really gotten slow. The next race is January, 21st and February, 18th. Jenna intends to be there. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say ! intend for Jenna to be there. Same for Michael and Matt and Katie and YOU. Until next race.