East Canyon

First things first... this is only a race... I need to put this one in perspective because it still burns... in the past few weeks we have seen guys go down hard with injuries that will side line them for a while. As well as other serious health issues that have hit a local cycling icon, and another's child... that is what really matters... Godspeed in a fast recovery to each.

Frustation, with a capital F... that's it in a nutshell- cut to one simple turnaround... at the turnaround... legs fresh, able and ready, I got boxed to the inside as the 35's and 45's merged into one big cluster... a group of about eight 35's got out and drilled it to grande gapage, while a few of us were trying to negotiate through the 45 pack... to which a violent effort off of the 45's (which isn't easy with Schaeffer and Armstrong pushing the pace) then to continue on with long hard pulls couldn't quite get us back on the train... game over but, not without a fight...

The highlight was, by launching off the front of the 45's to chase down the ocho amigo's, we got to ride next to Louis " Cancellera's bro separted at birth" Riel for a bit...he was TTing off the front of the 45's forever (every one was cheering him on as we checked out the 56X9 he was pushing into the headwind), also got to play cat and mouse with some of the 45+ chasers who ended up trying to bring back the lead group, lead out by Mr. Shaeffer, Zimbelman and the Claw, who were none other than Armstrong and the "Good Doctor" Longe... read on for the fun stuff...

At one point on the last flat section me and my Mazda Posse where side by side with Armstrong and the Doc, two synchronized pace lines one 35+ and one 45+... tyring desperately to bring back each lead group respectively, hoping we might catch on, if they end up doing the 1k dosey-do infront of us... the funny thing is one of the dropped 35+ riders who we caught (no name will be mentioned) decided that the rules didn't apply to him and was sucking wheel to the 45+ wheel chase group of Armstrong and Doc, like a hungry calf suckling momma's teet when we caught them... only to continue doing so even though Doc was telling him to stop time and again... and on top of this, we were watching him in amazement separated horizontally by two feet to the left... it gets better, if we passed the 45's he would suck our wheels and vice versa, switching back and forth... at the end, after I did long pull number 107, wheelsucker went flying by me to take the line, fortunately Porterlicious passed him... cuz I certainly couldn't, being that I spent my last bullet 30 pulls before... the entire episode was kind of sureal, like "hey guys I"m cheating, see! Check it out-and just wait until I pip you at the line"... I guess if you choose to ride like that, it's best to do it with gusto and gleen pride in a job well done! Compared to the turn around fiasco this really didn't matter that much to me, and to a certain extent it was kind of entertaining, it broke the monotany for sure, but I will say this... is it really worth it for 8th or 9th or whatever position? In the big scheme of things it's simply not that important, and it's certainly a quick way not to be invited to Lagoon for the next birthday bash with chocolate cake and noise makers...

Oh well, but I did really get to see two great races from just about every vantage point througout the race, I might not ever get to see that again... it was I was watching all the action on the tele with a beer in hand, of course minus the beer...