Talent

Rah Rah Ree,  kick `em in the knee.  Rah Rah Rass, kick `em in the other knee.

Jon and I had a great day in what was billed as the toughest stage of the race.  We did a large part of the Firecracker Course, in reverse.   Went over 12,000 feet.  Big, steep climbs.  We rode the best race as a team so far--and we are still in 5th place.   We did manage to finish ahead of the Belgian team, which is an accomplishment since they've been whoopin' us from the start.  Though I'd like to blame my lack of ability on my lack of training, the truth is that I really have to blame my parents.  And their parents.  And so on and so on.  I never should have done that stinkin VO2 Max test.  I could have continued to live my life in blissful ignorance.  But nooooooo.  I had to go and quantify my cursed limitations.  "What do you mean I'm born with that number? Can I change it?"

"No"

"I can't make it better?"

"Maybe a little, if you work really hard."

"But I want to have been born with naturally superior ability."

"Well, you weren't"

So there you have it.  I just don't have the genetics to ever be better than a marginally better-than-average mountain biker.  But being a non-contender has it's advantages.  I can sleep at night knowing that all the genetically superior bikers out there are . . . .  oh hell, I want talent!

TALENT!  T-A-L-E-N-T. TALENT!

Or I at least want a separate category for a Chinese/British men's duo.

But I digress.

We actually did ride a pretty good race today.  Team 303 Racing (who are tucked comfortably into 3rd place) saw us finish shortly after them.  Their faces said it all. "You guys?!  No, really, you guys???!!!"

Jon and I switched leads pretty evenly throughout the race today.  He is stronger on the easy to moderate climbs.  I am able to stay in the saddle a bit more on the heinously steep stuff.  Yeah, man.  I'm really good with granny.  The truth is that I'm just such a slow and pathetic walker (Ryn and Ken can attest to that), that I'll do anything to avoid it.

The course had some pretty sketchy stuff.  Mike did warn us of a steep little pitch on the other side of French Pass.  He warned us that we might want to slow down a bit.   Um, that was scary.  It was too steep to change your mind once you were committed, so I had no choice but to ride it with my ass on the rear wheel.  I don't think I want to do that piece again.

As a side note, Spare Tire Cycling is looking for sponsors.  We will shamelessly include product placement pics in our blog (see Jon's contribution).   We noticed that Squirt has a pretty stout list of athletes on their brochure.  Travis Brown, Jay Henry, Ned Overend, Conrad Stolz . . . .  

One question.  Where the hell is Jeff Wu on that list?  I'll have you know that I am the reigning Colorado State Short Track Champion for sport men 30-34!  (It was a stacked field too.  I beat a guy on a unicycle and an asthmatic (barely)).  Plus, I could use Squirt in the ER.  Who needs Surgilube when you have Squirt?  I'll use it for things like . . . well . . . for "procedures" that require lube.  We won't go into that. 

Tomorrow is another big day.  35 miles, 6000 feet of climbing.  The Wheeler Pass loop.

We still feel pretty good.  As long as we don't have any major mechanical issues (or any number of potential disasters) the next 2 days, we should have second-to-last place locked up.

More tomorrow.

out.