Category Archives: Racing

Illinois State Road Race

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The 2009 Illinois State Road Race – was the most interesting race I didn’t race.

Mrs. P was working so I was babysitting…errr…parenting little P. I took it as an opportunity to get a demo set of my carbon clinchers under some guys in races.

I asked around and got a few volunteers. Jason Senffer (Masters 30+ 4/5), Peter Kelley (Cat 5), and Joel Friedman (Cat 3). It was going to be hard to work the logistics – me with a 3 yr old in a trailor with wheelsets and tools to change gearing and brake pads – with all of the races being back to back.

It was just a weird day all around. I set Jason up and he was off racing. First time through I didn’t see him. I’ve built a lot of wheels and I have always had great results but you do this a while and you begin to understand that just about anything can happen. So I started thinking “oh crap…what happened?”

With it being a road race I would only get to see them every 1/2 hour or so. I got to sit around and wait for them to come back around. I was about ready to poop my pants. When they did come around I saw Jason hanging right near the front and he gave a thumbs up – whether or not it was to me was immaterial, he was OK. “Whew.”

We couldn’t see the finish but the racers came rolling back in. I had already changed Pete’s brake [ads and was just waiting for the wheels. Jason said he thought he won but it would be a photo finish for sure. Little did either of us know that would turn into a huge ordeal.

I had set all of this up to get these under Joel and adding everyone else was kind of an afterthought. So Joel arrived. Told me he put a new chain on and worked on the bike. He’s a mechanical guy and an engineer to boot but lacks application experience with bike drivetrains…so I’m thinking “great – don’t know what condition everything is in and I will be puttnig a new wheel and cassette on…and no work stand…I hope everything works”

It took me a while to swap his brake pads and adjust his gearing. I test rode it over to where the cat 5 racers where coming back to meet up with Pete. Found out Wiz ended up blowing chunks at the top of the hill (big thumbs up), Hillary finished in front of 2 other racers in the womens and Pete went to early and missed out in the sprint. Justin got 2nd though. Not bad at all!

I swapped wheels and headed back to set the pad correctly. Couldn’t toe in the fronts enough so I knew they were going to end up screaming like a banshee. Got Joel up and running in time.

We were standing at the pub near the rollout area and I was swapping back the pads from Pete’s bike, talking to everyone I knew when little P comes walking up to me drenched from head to toe saying he fell in the waterfall….long story.

I had people calling, people texting, racers talking, kids running, wheels going everywhere, AAAARGH! This was more stressful than racing for sure.

The 3′s went off, the girls went to the hill to watch and I found myself with Peter, Wiz, little P and Little K. Next thing I know it’s just me and the kids. The Master’s results were finally posted and they put Jason in 1st. Sweet. I was checking for Lenski who told me he placed 5th. He was out racing the cat 4 race at the time. I look and they have him 34th or some such crap. I’m thinking, “Oh crap”….the area fills with riders going, “WTF??!!!”

I can feel a big protest coming on. At that time the kids start running off and I turn and see Joel coming backwards towards us. “Oh, SHIZ!” He starts yelling, “I need a wheel!” My heart sank. Turns out he had a flat. It happens and it made me feel better because it had nothing to do with the wheel, but it still meant he was basically done with the race. Then Cory shows up saying he’s out with a mechanical. I check it over and the front brakes are dragging. Ara calls out that the lever slid down and tightened the cable. Both levers were loose. He already told the officials he was done. Total suckage. I felt bad for him.

MJH2 is lawyering and politicing in the melee that became the results protest. The 2nd place rider is contesting the results. No one knows WTF is going on and the finish line is quite a distance away. They all run off to check the results/tape. I start getting texts saying, “they may not even have tape of the finish. This is a joke” etc.

The whole time I am just thinking, “I promised Lenski I would stick up for his 5th. I threw the kids in the stroller and went to walk to the finish line. I didn’t know where it was and it didn’t take long to figure out I wasn’t goint to make it there so I turned around.

At that poing I just wanted to get out of there. Little P hadn’t eaten since breakfast – apart from snacks all day. and hadn’t takend a nap….We were both getting grouchy.

I got a text saying Jason won – it stood. They came down and I took some podium shots of him…alone because 2nd took off and they hadn’t figured out who third was yet. He also won the Illinois Cup then as well. Psimet wheels – first race – podium, state championship, Illinois cup….not bad. Congrats Jason. That was a lot of hard work that paid off for you.

Soon after that I was done. Joel was still out there riding around and I needed to get his brake pads switched and swap the wheels. I had picked up another wheel that was trashed to fix. So I had 3 wheels in the trailor. Then I got a call that Scott K had crashed….bad. I was sitting there when the medical truck brought him in. 2 strollers, 2 kids, one’s father is in the back of a medical truck, I was slightly stressed. When it was apparant he would live I took a look at his new Reynolds 68 tubular front wheel – first race – and half of the spokes were bent and broken. He wants to race on it this weekend….psimet to the rescue :D

After that I looked and the Pro 1/2 had been going for a while…we had a guy in a break. Awesome. I wanted to stick around but that was all I could handle. I got home and had pizza and beer and passed out – sleeping to 10am the next morning. I think I’d rather race.

Net results:Later – along with pictures…

A weekend of failure

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Where do I start……

This last weekend was a weekend from hell as far as racing goes. Just 1 week ago we were shivering through mid 50’s temperatures with bone soaking rain. A mere 7 days later it’s as if the gravitational pull from my poor performance brought the sun closer ensuring a miserable weekend of racing as far as conditions go.

Setting up for the weekend I wasn’t going to have the opportunity to race both days so I registered for Cobb Park. Cobb Park had 2 races I could do….and it was only $10 for the second race. Guess what I did….yup.

Then Mrs. P says she no longer has to work on Sunday and that I can race – it is Father’s day after all. To top it off Fox River Grove is pretty close to the Psimet compound. Oh and look….they have two races I can do. Excellent. Guess I will sign up for both.

So it was some time later when it dawned on me that I was going into a 4 race in 2 days weekend. On top of that we were looking at record heat and humidity. Oh, and somehow I didn’t know but there was this thing called a “hill” on the course for Sunday. How big can it really be right? The directions to the course said, “at the corner of School and SKI HILL RD. That should have been my first indication.

So I was feeling good on Saturday. The race was too early for the family to embrace the idea of getting up and going with. No one needed a ride so I was on my own to the race. It was weird to drive to a race with no one else. I got in some good alone time. It was kind of nice.

Once there I quickly found the usual suspects all milling around. I felt strong and thought I might have a chance at a really good result. I hit the trainer and “warmed up” for a long time beforehand. I felt great as the race started. Chatting it up, floating around at will, felt like I had a ton in reserve. Then something happened.

There was an acceleration and it was like someone opened a drain plug on my tank and emptied it. The accelerations weren’t hard. The race was fast but manageable, but something in me just went limp. I got shelled.

I felt a little better as I ran into a lot of other riders I am usually contending with who also got shelled, but in general it wasn’t pleasant. Then I got lapped. Then I got chills and goosebumps….and then got lapped again. I was dehydrated. Bad. I finished the race but it was torture. A lot of people dropped so I finished up on a lot of guys but I was dead last in the field of riders that were placed.

I figured I should drink and do my best to get my temp down in between the races. I only had 6 bottles for the whole day and I was down to only 2 left for in between the races and the next race. I am sure I could have found more water but I didn’t push it.

For the Masters race I felt much better. The pace was slower and I found it pretty easy to hang where I wanted to. I even contemplated going for the prime when it was announced. Then with 3 or so laps to go I got a leg freezing cramp along my inner thigh. It locked up my leg completely. I was done. I tried another lap but I couldn’t push any gear so I just pulled off. I felt the pity look from the officials piercing me as I called it a day.

So needless to say after the poor performance on Saturday I was not hoping for much on Sunday. I was not disappointed by that. I got yanked twice on Sunday. So did a lot of other guys but still….it sucks. I found I got better each time up the hill and found I could descend and hold the corners in the mid 30’s – taking them without braking.

I knew I was in trouble for sure when I realized I didn’t know nearly as many guys on the line and started seeing jerseys from all over. That combined with the fact that the front of the grid looked like a forest of saplings made it sink in that the fat fast flat crit rider was going to embarrass himself very quickly.

In better news Little P almost won his race. He was kicking butt. Everyone was cheering him on and he was making a bee-line for me at the finish and then suddenly swerved at the last minute into the crowd. He then spent the next 45 minutes crying that he wasn’t allowed to finish riding the whole course, that he didn’t win, and that he might have hurt someone else or their bike. He didn’t even want his 3rd place medal.

Well….he has as much hardware as I have now.

Next up – vacation. 1 week spent in Gulf Shores, AL again. Yay. After this it’s Superweek. I have already signed up for Blue Island (2 races), Elgin (2 races), Arlington Heights (2 races), and Bensenville (2 races). Still thinking about Evanston for 1 race.

Then it’s the Chicago crit….maybe a Soldiers field race…..it just doesn’t end.

Sherman….I heard he destroyed a bunch of stuff?

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When you wake up at 4am to make a bike race but have a hard time getting up at 6am for work…that’s when you know you’re a roadie. Saturday marked just such an occassion. For the first time we ‘burbers had to wake at the butt crack of dawn to slog our way into the city for a race. I had heard so many people complain about the neighborhood that the Sherman Park crit was in that I anticipated the worst. I was sadly disappointed. It was fine.

That same kind of talk kept a lot of people away from the Lansing cyclocross race last fall too. That’s just sad. Oh well.

Under the calming blue flash of the light on top of the security camera I parked my car and began the process of pre-race routine – pick up my number, BS with everyone I see, engage in nervous chit-chat, visit the facilities about 5 times, suit up, pre-ride, discuss tactics doomed to failure in the heat of the moment, warm up, tell everyone I suck and am not ready, and then toe the line.

The Sherman Park Crit was a race put on by xXx. That would be the black and white armada of Chicago cycling. Pretty much in every race its usually xXx and everyone else. This being their race, in the city, etc it was fair to guess the fields would be slanted their way in terms of sheer numbers. How does of 50% of the field sound. Yup. *sigh* Thank God there are some pretty cool guys on the team. :)

Our 5′s toe’d the line looking like the crew out of Resevoir DOgs. http://chicagopersonalphoto.smugmug.com/gallery/8527131_zBZDY#563614020_g9Drd-XL-LB

We like to refer to ourselves as the fatest team in Chicago racing.

We watched the 5′s rollout and then went to continue warming up. We got back in time to see TQ win in the sprint as I was putting my wheels in the pit. 2 wins and a 2nd in his last 3 races. Nice.

After that we rolled up. This was Joel’s first USAC race as a 4. It was him, Riccio and myself. I was feeling VERY strong. Haven’t been that confident in a while. As we were lined up we got a safety lecture in typical xXx fashion. ;) It was a memorial race as well so we all took a moment of silence. I remember reading about the guy it was for when he died at Matteson last year. I took that time to think about my coworker who was killed while riding a few years back. That’s when the rain started falling.

Fast, flat, no-corner crit protected from most of the wind….and it’s raining…you KNEW there was going to be a wreck. We started out pretty gingerly. Nothing major. The pace of the race was really fairly easy for most of it but it became a race of position. As water started to pool and rooster tails started throwing sand and mud on you each lap got a little more dicey, a little colder, and a little faster.

I found I kept getting boxed in on the inside. I was always on someone’s wheel when they popped and started floating back. It sucked. I had the juice but couldn’t turn it loose. A couple of times I thought of attacking just so I could ride at my pace, but I knew that was suicide on this course.

I saw Joel wanting to jump on a few moves. I told him before the race to sit in. Nothing was going to get away. He knew that already but his instinct is to pounce. I yelled his name once when I saw him move for the kill and he sat up. The move came back a few seconds later too. I don’t really like giving Joel advice much anymore because only he knows what he can and can’t do…and right now there isn’t much he can’t do. I just get frustrated when I see him waste energy he doesn’t need to waste…and yet it hasn’t affected his riding yet.

Due to poor positioning I was always about 5 riders behind Joel. Riccio was always behind or next to me as well. I saw Joel sit up and start coasting back. As soon as the rain started to really dump on us the flats started. Joel had one. I floated back with him to talk to him. He looked ready to throw in the towell. I told him to get to the pit, take a lap and use my wheels – I brought them for the team. I said I would pace him back up….

….yeah….fog of race there. It took me a bit to realize that with a free lap he didn’t need pacing back up. Now I was OTB for no good reason. Ooops. I quickly chased back on and was fine. I yelled to our guys in the crowd that Joel had a flat in hopes they would watch over him in the pit and yell advice if he needed it.

Next thing I knew he was back in the mix. Mission accomplished.

After that I found that I was getting covered in sand. Especially in my eyes. It was horrible. I couldn’t see crap. At times your were riding by feel. You could sense where the other riders were and just tried to maintain your position with respect to them. We could have ridden off the course and into the lake and no one would have stopped it. The yelling slowed as everyone got colder and more miserable.

I got sick of my position and finally got a couple of good looks outside as the pace finally picked up. I used it as an opportunity to ride to the front. I would get on Joel’s wheel and then next thing you know I would be back in the middle of the pack again. Suck.

I finally heard “2 to go” as we came over the line. Up to then I couldn’t see the cards – wasn’t looking honestly – and couldn’t see my timer. i was shocked that was all we had left. I had the gas so now I was looking for position. I didn’t want to push anything in these conditions so I was kind of waiting for some opportunities.

As we came around – heading towards the line to take the bell it happened. It was a chain reaction. Two guys pinched each other out. They hit and the sound of them hitting set it off. It was like everyone was waiting for the wreck to happen so when they heard it they freaked, hit the breaks, and all hell broke loose.

I have found that when I get into these situations I have this weird sixth sense that allows me to get through. I don’t think much about it my body just does stuff. I made it all the way through everything – and it was ugly. I was thinking I was going over the bars for sure. I was just about clear when a rider on the ground slid into my line. I rode up and over the bike t-boning his chainring with my front tire. *PSSSSSsssssss*!! SUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCKKK!

I was out for sure. No injuries – for that I was happy. I surveyed the mass of bodies on the deck. The yelling, swearing, walking wounded, bike throwing, etc. I almost wanted to laugh at how serious some of us cat 4′s take this stuff. It’s bike racing. I yelled, “everyone who can get up – do it and get off the course. they’ll be coming through again. Fast.” I then thought I could get back into it because I had wheels in the pit. I rode my flat clincher (don’t ask) all the way back. Before hitting the pit I realized that on the bell lap that pit was going to be closed. Oh well. Turns out joel had taken my front wheel anyway.


“Is the wheel pit still open?”


“Sunnuva…” – check out the flat front…

Riccio came in after me. Covered in head to toe in mulch and mud. he looked like he had just stepped out of Paris-Roubaix. Turns out he went cyclocrossing and was clear until the last second when someone smacked him at full speed from behind. Then he hit a tree. Ouch.

We were able to watch the end from the pit. We looked up in time to see Joel outsprint Slim_77 for the win. NIIIIIIiiice. Joel won’t be long for the 4′s. I told him when he started he was only going to be limited by the time he was able to put into this sport. I still stand by that.

So….we won both of the first races. I was registered for the Masters but honestly I felt like I had already pressed my luck and torn up enough equipment. I was anxious to head home and kiss the family. The two winners hit the town and lit up my phone with drunk text messages all night. You lightweights.

Still….we’re the working man’s team. The fatest team in Chicago racing. …can’t wait until cross.

-pictures from Mark Keller

5 to 4

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I made my request to upgrade from a Cat 5 road racer to 4. Even though I suck it was still time. 5′s are meant to allow you to get the lay of the land – to learn what is involved in racing and how to race safely with others…not as a development category.

I don’t feel ready, but the TT results from Sunday have helped show me that I am. I basically came out with a 3.3 w/kg functional threshold power (ftp) which puts me about mid level Cat 4 on Coggan’s chart. I will post about the TT later. As it is let’s hope I get the upgrade. Don’t know if I officially have all of the starts required, but I just threw all of the events I have done on there. Big fields. Competitive. Meh…we’ll see.

Hardware

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I scored some hardware at today’s epic TT. I didn’t ride as well as I could have, but I did a good job I believe. I came in 3rd out of 4 in the 30+ category. 1:04:48 seconds for 23.75 miles – about 22mph average.

I say epic because it was a downpour for the whole route. I couldn’t see anything through my glasses so I rode looking over them. If I had my head up the rain was so heavy it would sting my eyes.

Standing there getting drenched while in the start house I looked around at a few of the other guys and just had to say it, “you know…we’re some pretty messed up guys for coming out here in the rain to put ourselves through the torture that is a TT. We could all be in bed or eating a nice breakfast. We’re idiots.” I got the obligatory laugh or two, but everyone was thinking, “you wussy. I do it so that I can kick bike weenie ass. Get in line for your ass kickin you weenie.”

“30 seconds”

I noticed that my heart rate goes from 50-60 just standing around to in the mid 90s when I get into the start house. Crazy. You want to pee, crap yourself, throw-up, fall over into a fetal position, etc. You know the pain that is coming and you know the little guy with the clipboard isn’t going to save you or make the pain stop. He’s going to enjoy every minute of it.

“Rider ready. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO!”

I don’t care how much you warm up, if you are not feeling like you just got hit by a Mack truck within the first 30 seconds to a minut of a TT then you’re doing it wrong.

Pain is like crack. Beating someone is like heroin.

I wasn’t expecting much and did nothing to prepare for this other than switch my bike over. I think I did OK. This is the first piece of hardware I have ever received from a competitive cycling event. Sure it’s no big deal and doesn’t mean anything with such a small field on such a crappy day, but it’s a medal. I will take it.

Colorchange pulled a 1:00:03<--missed the hour by 3 seconds. Awesome job. He pulled first place in Cat 5. Alien2 was there to finish the series. He placed 2nd overall in the series as well as second today. This is in Cat 3. He's a fast dude. It shows on Tuesday nights. He did the route in something like 56 or 58 minutes. Hella-fast.

Fall fling is coming and I am hoping I can do good things there. The TT is half the distance so I will need to really hammer it out in order to be able to do anything.

Bicycle Heaven Group Ride

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So…I finally rode my first group ride with my team. I’ve known since I found out about the ride last year that this is a very high caliber ride. So I knew I was going to be in over my head.

I prepared with a map and made sure I had a blinkie (bike talk for little flashing red light used in low light levels to warn motor vehicles of your presence or to generally increase your visibility – used here to imply that I would be coming in after the main group – in the dark). It was nice to see MJH2 and RR both there for the ride. I pulled the newb move and didn’t wear my team kit (still dirty from the race – P U). I wasnt sure what the protocol was and I didn’t want to be the guy that wears the shirt of the band you are going to see. Turns out I should have been that guy.

So what is there to tell…um…these guys are indeed all business. There was more slabs of prime grade A racing beef there than at almost anything else I have ever done outside of a race. Oh…and chatty cathys too. Real lively talkative bunch. It was nice because they rollout pretty slow for quite a while and most of the talk had to do with the race that seemingly all of us were in last weekend.

Then they attack. Holy crap Batman. This isn’t a quick flyer or hard sprint kind of attack, but rather a slow rolling into pace. The kind where it just keeps going….you hit “kinda fast” and it keeps increasing….you hit “fast” and it keeps going….you hit “this is hauling ass” and it keeps going…..you see stars and start to get tunnel vision…..and there is still a gap.

That kind of acceleration always makes me feel like I am in a slow mo replay of the special effects from Star Wars when they do a jump into hyper-space.

I knew it would happen eventually so I didn’t freak out or anything. MJH2 and I ended up plodding ahead. It took me forever to really get my engine running. I have been noticing that lately. What I mean is that it takes like 15-20 minutes of HARD riding before I stop hyper-ventilating and start being able to pour on power, etc without totally popping.

MJH2 noticed that as well as I was wheel sucking him like I was a 2 month old and his wheel was a nipple. All said we ended up doing some decent work. Really cranked out some powerful sections. The effort was similar to the TTT I did with aham a few weeks back. Has to list up there as one of my all time hard efforts speed wise.

It was like being in a race. Actually being in a race. Pegged from the start with absolutely no breaks.

We finished respectfully and got some “meh….not too horrible for cat4/5′s” looks from some of the guys. Even got a “good riding” from the shop/team owner as a side comment.

Different vibe. No drinking afterwards, etc. All Roadie. I liked it, but I can’t see abandoning “my People” on the Penny Rd Ride. Then again I will get much faster riding the BH ride. So….thinking of doing the Penny Rd on Tuesdays and the BH ride on Thursdays.

….now…..how do I convince Mrs. P that this is something that needs to happen…….hmmmmm

Tour of Oakbrook Road Race

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Well…I did pretty much what I expected. Really wasn’t planning on doing this race and coming out of a really bad virus at the same time. MJH2, myself, and another teamate (RR) just kind of went out to see what was up.

I got there first thing – 6:33 when registration was set to open at 6:45. Figured I signed up late and wanted to make sure I got a timing chip. You know you are in the rich part of town when they have you parking….PARKING…on the local polo fields. Srsly folks. We had some ferrari as a pace car. Also a Hummer as well.

Turns out I was first in line for registration. Also turns out it was a major cluster. They didn’t register me until about 7:30. I was in line at 6:40. By the time I was registered there were about 100-200 people in line waiting behind me. Oh….and I preregistered.

Needless to say they ran late. Major late. They pushed back races, cut laps off of them (no complaints here about that), ran people with the same numbers in the same fields, did 1/2 manual and 1/2 chip timing, had a course official whose motorcycle had broken down….but apart from that it was an awesome race.

By the time we got rolling it was 45 minutes PAST our original start time. I was starving before we even took one pedal stroke. We lined up early to get a front row start. We had decided to be in front for the first turn onto Spring Hill. It worked.

photo evidence: L to R – MJH2, RR, Me…in front. Kit looks good from here.

Colorchange is in the SD jersey behind MJH2′s shoulder

I was out front right off the line. MJH2 rode right next to me down York into the “headwind”. A couple of times I told him I was blowing up by doing it, but we both held it. We paced the group up the first climbs and our teammate (RR) came around on the top of the big one.

We blocked like a bunch of xXx’rs (local team known for development in the lower cats, great guys that play heavy team tactics in the lower ranks) but RR was looking for someone else to go with.

So we tried something, it worked, but none of us had the juice to make anything stick (which we pretty much knew going in). After that I just floated back. Started to fall off the back in the home straight on the second lap when RJBTrek (another BF’er on Village Cyclesport) yelled at me to grab a wheel and I did. Got me back into the pack – thanks!

Third lap I blew up on Spring. The hills popped me like an over-ripe cherry. I knew it was coming, but hoped I had an extra lap or two. Legs were fine, but the ticker was losing rythm. Looking at stats afterwards my avg HR was something like 180. My max was right when I popped at 193. Seriously folks. You can’t make this crap up.

Down the straight I worked up to Scummer and we just shot the crap to the line. We could have caught the pack, but I think both of us wanted our races to be over. It was hot and the long wait and delays before the race had me hurting food wise.

After that I just watched everyone else. MJH2 made it another 2 laps – same as our other teamate. Colorchange did well…like he was always able to. Came in off the back of the pack at the end – loose saddle/seatpost. That’s that cheap Cervelo crap for you.Turns out Alien 2 came in 2nd overall and depending on the age of the guy in front he may have won the 40+ group. He’s racing 3′s over at ABR so…..

Podium for Master 40+ 4/5 – Alien2 on right side in second place. I try to hold his wheel every Tuesday night and he punishes me severely just for trying. BTW – I would have to drop 30 lbs just to match his weight.

As always I am in crap shape, but at least I am in stellar shape compared to last year. I can only hope I can see this much of an improvement again over the next year. Looking forward to more racing.

Just dumped some SERIOUS money on a getaway weekend for the wife for her b-day. Mine is in December. If she understands the depths I went to then I feel a powertap coming on in December…….between that and some weight loss……….I could be dangerous in the spring.

Yuk

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I feel like the stuff you find sometimes on the bottom of your shoe that makes you think, “I don’t know what the hell that is, but I’m not touching it.”

The family has been dealing with a virus for a few weeks. I feel like I am pulling out of the worst point, but I am still a mess. I did the Dairyland Dare with it in full effect, but the stress of the Dare put me over the edge. I have been in a serious funk since then. Add on top of that some business travel – late travel and arrival paired with early meeting and half day travel again – and I am struggling to figure out which side is up.

To top all of this off I have to get to the doc to get my regular Rx filled – something I HATE doing. I have no time and scheduling an appointment is like trying to ask the most popular girl out to the dance. You end up getting a semi-polite appointment at a totally inconvenient time and end up leaving there feeling like you’ve wasted all your time and were just mildly humored.

I hate healthcare in America. Wife works in the system (RN). She has a Doctor for a sister and the other sister is a nurse as well. Everyone wants to do a better job, but the system seems to never really give them a chance to. Between everyone covering their asses and the occassional individual that just doesn’t really know what they’re doing….you know where I’m going.

Case in point. I had breathing problems and got bumped around from my primary to a specialist. Specialist needed testing, etc. The total time involved to schedule appointments and get anything done – 6 months. End result – have surgury (nasal polyps). My wife was pregnant at the time so there was no way I was going to take any unecssary risks.

Now that child is 2 1/2. I still have the issue. If I want something done now I will have to start the process all over again. Not to mention if I undergo surgury then I will be laid up for a couple of weeks. So….in order to make sure this happens during the off-season I would have to start this process sometime in July….

….guess I’ll wait until next year.

So…what does this mean for Saturday’s road race? It means my first event sporting an actual team kit will be a subpar showing. I might have to pull myself to prevent total embarassment to rest of the team who is there.

Pain is what it feels like to get better…….right?