Saturday, December 5, 2009

do over...

You don't often get do overs in life. '05 in Providence was a huge learning experience. The conditions dictated every aspect of our time there. Wet, cold, frozen, sloppy to throw out a few terms. '06 was a rare opportunity for the above mentioned do over. Same venue, but what a difference! Weather in the 50's & dry the whole time we were there. See below: short sleeved skin suit, yep it was nice. (photo credit FOG).

I ran into Marshall at the Chicago airport, we hooked up again once we got there, built the bikes up real quick & headed for the venue. Same 7 mile journey as last year but not crappy weather. I'll call the ride a tour through urban Providence. We got to the course around 3 or 4 & jumped on for a pre-ride. It was awesome! So this is what the course looks like, it looked vaguely familiar from last year but it was dry & fast. They didn't change anything, why should they? Everyone felt like they hadn't seen this venue yet.

40-44 race I was in the 16th, 17th, 18th row? I can't rememeber but it was way back there. I clawed my way up to a 19th place finish, ok...

35+ B race...again way back there. Marshall was in the row right behind me, the 2 of us blasted around the course on a mission to pass, pass, pass. Marshall grabbed a 7th & me a 9th. We had the lead group in our sites, maybe 10 seconds up the road. Another lap & we would easily have made it to the front. That was a lot of fun. I remember passing like 30 guys on the first corner after the start & then diving into a left hander by the pits & passing another huge chunk of dudes. The ground was crazy tacky & my tires were sticking like glue. At one point Marshall took a creative line & blasted through some kind of barbecue pit instead of taking the established line. Too much fun...definitely a do-over:)

My roomates...

Don't mess with this guy...

Bill & FOG representing...

I'm jealous you folks throwing down in Portland today...Midwest in the house! Good luck guys, kick some...

Later,

TK

3 comments:

TP said...

Good day today, Dean 2nd, Chris 3rd, Tom 2nd. Joe and Adam both crashed out of the Elite race. Pretty cold here with slick course conditions in the am, much better in the afternoon. Would of been fun to have you guys here but it won't be long.

t-nuts said...

I'm getting excited to get out there. Just got to make it through 2 more trainer rides & one day of work:)

Good luck today!

Cornbread said...

Trainer rides...yuck!

These recaps are great! I'm getting excited to watch the live updates from the races. Good luck out there fellas!