Wow, I could get used to this (doug)

So, as usual, B beats me to the punch on the race report, and it is right on. What a great event! Rick and his team of organizers and volunteers at Barry-Roubaix made this thing run so smoothly and made it so much fun. It was a clear reflection of his efforts last year that the race went from 250 participants to the 700 that raced this year. I expect another big jump for next year, for sure. It was everything we'd hoped for, and is already definitely on OUR schedule for next year. The only question now is how many more people we convince to come up with us. I'm not sure the video footage of our time the night before or the night after would convince anyone to come up with us, particularly, but hopefully they'll come up on their own. I'm tempted to elaborate on the extracurricular events of the wknd (since that was more the focus for Jon and I this go around), but I'm going to wait, in deference to Brian's "other" race report that has been commissioned by XCC Magazine (coming soon to www.xxcmag.com). Suffice to say, B, Pope, 50m Jon, me, and our good friends from Team Sandbag Racing (MI) got the most out of Kalamazoo, MI over the weekend. Combine 7 exhausted racers, plenty of good beer on site after the race, a couple of good breweries, a sports bar with Elite 8 basketball and a very frustrated waitress (thanks to TP), and a bar that likes PBR so much they put it on TWO taps (thank you Green Top), and you get a story worth (but maybe not appropriate for) publishing. Can't wait to read it.

As far as the race/ride itself went, it was amazing. Jon and I were not in any position to push it like Pope and Brian, and when they took off at mile 2.5, we were still in "I'd like to get used to riding on gravel" mode. Minutes later, we turned into the sandy, uphill two-track that Brian mentioned in his post, and that was that. B and Pope were gone, Jon and I got through that section as best we could, and then treated the rest of the race a bit more like a casual club ride than a race. That's not to say it wasn't hard, we just weren't looking for folks to draft with and "go". We stayed together when we could, separating as needed as the terrain suited one or the other of us better (I climb ok, but am terrified of fast descents), but mostly rode side by side, chatting and just having an good time in general. It was beautiful country, and the occasional residents in the remote area were awesome, as Brian said. I'm still not sure if they were cheering us or mocking us as we grinded ourselves up some of those hills, but I always treated it as a blessing and used the native drums, chanting, and screaming as motivation. Jon and I finished about 10-12 minutes, and 100 racers, behind B and Pope, and were pretty happy with the experience as a whole (at least I was).

Now that we know what we're up against and got a feel for the racecourse and atmosphere, we discussed treating next year's race a little different. I think that could be a blast, as well as making it a different experience altogether. I think we might get a group together, add a little strategy, drink a little less the night before, and see if we can't even race in the expert category versus the sport. We'll see. All in all, I can say that is was some of the most fun I've had involving cycling, and I hope we can get ourselves, and our friends involved in more of these "epic" rides/races, versus just the standard racing series. Brian has already started recruiting for a MTB race in GA later this year, and it has some real potential. Stay tuned. I was able to sell Alison's KONA JAKE just yesterday(the one she never rode), and will be getting my first MTB before the end of April, just in time for this year's local Short Track Series. Can't wait.

On another note, to save me the trouble of another post, today was the third leg of the Louisville Triple Crown of Racing - The Papa Johns 10 Miler. I think the week off after B-R actually helped me, and I was able to run a PR 1:18:52. That's almost a minute/mile faster than I train at, and I'm thrilled. Last year I ran a 1:23:xx. I'm headed to FL for spring break with the family tomorrow for a week, so I'll get some training runs in (but no cycling), then B and I plan to run the KY Derby Festival 1/2 Marathon together on 4/24. Wish us luck.