Joy

This weekend was a blast. Saturday, I hit the HART team ride...the first of the season. All levels/cats were there, so it was nice to get a chance to meet guys I didn't know, and see guys I haven't seen in a while. We met up at the Bang! Salon on 22nd & Kearny, and rolled out North. Our route would require us to ride the Platte East trail to get to the airport, which, unfortunatly, was still sorta frozen. There were only a few casualties on the way out (a few guys hitting the ice, snow), but we made it out relatively unscathed. Mind you, there were about 30-35 guys in a line, so 1 or 2 is actually really good! Part way out, we passed the Platte water treatment/waste processing plant. I have never...ever...in my entire life smelled something so rank and disgusting in my life. There might have been some bleed over from the Purina Dog Food factory, but, it smelled like REALLY REALLY strong spoiled cheddar cheese. I couldn't take it! As we continued out, the temperature rose, and the ice/snow melted quickly, which, of course, provided the traditional soaking of the rider behind you. I'm suer we all got contaminated with things like Ebola, Botullism, as well as a few strains of giardia due to the variations in color of the goose shit that littered the path. It was rather rank! Finally we hit the road, and started out towards the airport/state TT course. We had a good tempo going with some of the 1/2 guys pulling the double paceline. Eventually we stopped for a breather and the start/finish area, and regrouped. We then broke off into 2 smaller groups and worked on pacelining...we need some work. As the we approached the end of the second leg, there was an organized sprint just over the top of the bridge crossing 470. I was feeling a bit cagey, so I planned on trying to kick it out. I was sitting in about 4th, and about to be shot off with my turn in the paceline, when suddenly we singled up, and the speed increased dramatically. I was still sitting fourth, and deceided it was time to go. I checked for cars, then down shifted and hit it. As I pulled away, I'd realized I was setting myself up for a sprint. Now, I'm not so much of a sprinter, but Frank's been having me do some explosive power work the last month or so, and boy did it work. I uncorked a great sprint effort (for me of course), and was almost able to hold it to the line. I probbbbbbably went a teeny bit early, but still, was going pretty hard once I crossed the line. I did not win the sprint, but rather finished a close 3rd by only a few inches. I was pretty zonked after that, but, was very happy with how I felt on the finish, considering it was about 2.5 hrs into the ride. It was the first group ride of the season, and, for me to be able to feel like I did, I'm very excited! We eventually regrouped, and I deceided to head home after the lap around the course. The ride back was even sloppier than the ride out, and I coudln't believe how soaked I got. I headed back to the start of the ride to pick up a few things I stored in a guys truck, and headed home. I was knackered! 74miles, 4.5 hrs, and 2648 KJ is a HUGE day for the first day. I felt like Ironman though!

Sunday was more of the same....MOB started at 9:15 in the warmish sorta sun, then, as we proceeded to Golden, the snow started...and KEPT COMING. Then, it turned to rain. The ride was fun, but luckily we kept it civil given the weather conditions. I was also a tad tired from the day before, and decided not to participate in the sprint. I held wheels and closed gaps on the way out, but sat up as we headed in to Golden. Once we rolled from Golden, the snow got harder, and the weather got a bit colder. I decided to turn around, as I was SOAKED , and did not want to get sick. I'd already felt a bit stuffy & runnny from the day before, so I didn't want to prolong it. As I headed home, the sun came out, and it shot up about 20 degrees. This place is nuts!

I went to Sunflower Market for the weekly grocery shop and got some great stuff. The menu for the week is as follows...

Jane's Vegetarian Chili
Falafel Pitas with Goat Cheese sauce
Pinto Bean Burgers with Chipotle Mayo
*Chicken Fried Tofu

*If needed

All the recipes are from Cooking Light's 2006 Annual Recipe book I got for x-Mas, and so far has been a hit with everything I've made.

Until next time...ciao!