Just Where Was That Star?

That's what Maria asked J back at the registration area. If you haven't done Mill Mountain before, you are totally anoxic when you get to the top. Maria was right at the base of the star, and never saw it.

Me, well, I know where the star is. It's way up there...

So how did that climb go? Like a broken record, not too good. First was the nausea, probably caused by the knowledge of what was to come. Then about 1/2 mile into the climb, I went to shift, the chain dropped, wrapped around the rear derailleur, and whammo, down she goes. Between that, the fact that the seat was now at a 90% angle, and the front brake was jammed in, my day was done. I took off the shoes and walked, ran it up the mountain.

J at the meantime, motored up in 12 something taking 4th overall. Sharon rode her new Orbea up and despite not being able to get the gear to stay in anyone gear got up just fine. Me, I had sore feet, but got up a little different way.

Sunday was a blast. We headed down to Va Tech to do the crit there. Crap, there was a mean climb on that one, too! Technical turns, climbs, it was a gas.

Too bad I had no gas left. Poor J and Sharon tried to get me going, but it was just not going to happen. When I finally unleashed J she was able to get up for money, and a nice tire prime. I got a "pass the hat" prime of $15, which was a pleasant surprise which got us a little farther down the road on the way home. We were even able to take a shower after the race. I wish all race courses could be done so well. (Maybe without that pesky hill thing, though...)

The funniest thing of the weekend... listening to NPR on the way home trying to dodge the holiday traffic. Terri Gross was interviewing this German guy who sings show tunes... he grew up listening to dubbed tunes. He told Terry that he always thought that Judy Garland was singing "I want to be a porn star", and couldn't imagine why it was so. Now, whenever I hear that song, I'm going to be thinking, "I want to be a porn star."

The best thing, watching little Jake King annihilate the field on Sunday. He is going to be a superstar. Teeth gritting, out of the saddle, attacking every corner... I want to ride like Jake!

The saddest thing- its a tie... little Brook Stallings going down in the Jr race, and the jerks in the green Subaru who were throwing their trash out the window as they left the parking lot. Brook, you are going to be just fine. The guys in the Subaru, will suck forever.