Back from Cali on Friday. The travel/recovery on Monday was among my more unpleasant experiences. I got a short hour on the fixie in the evening rain on Sunday following the 101, but that was hardly enough to get my muscles stretched out for the 13 hour epic to San Jose. My muscles slowly constricted as I sat on the 3 cramped flights and by the time I got off the plane in San Jose I was walking like an 80 year old man. Thankfully, my conference accommodations were pretty posh and I was able to take full advantage of the marble bathroom to soak and stretch over the next few days. Even so I had just barely shaken it off before I had to get back on the flying sardine can on Friday.
This weekend was about getting the legs stretched back out and getting a last few miles on. Four hours each on Saturday and Sunday got me feeling pretty good again, though I’ve been struggling with the heat to stay hydrated. I have to drink so much water during the day that I actually have come to dislike the the taste (does water even have a taste?) and I’ve taken to adding embellishments (yes, beer counts as an embellishment) to make it go down easier.
El Cacapon, Billy, and AccuJoe are packed up and leave tomorrow afternoon for Paris. An extended network of friends have stepped up to provide us with some pretty sweet lodging in Paris. I’ll be following of Friday and probably carrying along everything they’ve forgotten to pack.
As of Saturday night we were down to 4. Mikey’s been feeling his form slipping since the 600 and hasn’t been able to do the long miles for a while. He made a valiant effort to fight through it, but may ultimately have to concede. The ticket’s not canceled yet though, so there is hope for a mid-week rally.
Yesterday also kicked off the Trans-Rockies Challenge and saw Chipper and Leech move into 8th position in the open men’s category (14:36 back) after the first stage. That puts them in the top American spot and well within striking range of the podium at the end of the week. Keep it up boys!!
