Maybury TT

Very few things get me worked up; that's just my personality.

We will be driving somewhere and will get cut off.

Cindy is in the seat next to me, arms flailing in the air: "He cut us off!"

I'm wondering what I will have for dinner.

Cindy: "DO SOMETHING!!"

Me, in a tone so calm it makes Gandhi seem all rilled up: "He drives a Chrysler K-Car; perhaps life has dealt him enough blows?"

Cindy isn't satisfied with my logic. I am.

This attitude carries over to racing. I enjoy racing. I really want to do well but I understand where I fit in the group of racers. Racing is a test, not much more. This pacifist attitude goes a long way towards explaining my so so results.

I wasn't planning on racing again until the Iceman in November, and really, that isn't a race, it is an excuse for me and Cindy and our little group of friends to rent a cluster of cottages on Skegemog Lake, eat and drink a lot, go to the Turtle Creek Casino, and in between all that, do this over hyped race on sandy two-tracks between Kalkaska and Traverse City.

I noticed there was a race at Maybury today. I didn't have anything going on and I was curious how much damage I have done to my fitness lately. I am not a huge fan of Maybury, and I was completely unprepared for it, but everything in my wonderfully predictable, well laid out world seems to have come slightly unglued this summer and I just wanted to ride hard. I was a little angry for no good reason. A 45 minute all out effort seemed a good way to vent. My anger is so subtle that the only outward sign of it was a rather dark, cynical music selection on my Ipod.

Usually I pass racers like this:

Me: "Sweet Hugi hubs!"
Ricky Racer: "huff puff thanx huff puff..."
Me: "Hey, I'm going to pass you right here, Okay?"
Ricky Racer: "huff puff k huff puff..."
Me: "All right then, have a great race."
Ricky Racer: "huff puff uh hu huff puff..."

Right, that wasn't my attitude today. I passed people and didn't complement their hubs. Yes, I was just that angry.

I am normally (well, up until this year) meticulously prepared on race day but today I accidentally left my CamelBak at home and I got to Maybury late. They let me sign up after registration closed but I had to run up to the starting line and put my plate on as the timer was counting down. That was my only warm up.

It was a time trial so while I was racing I wasn't sure how I was doing. My heart rate monitor died so I didn't even have that to give me a clue. The course was very slick from the rain last night; the amount of speed I should carry into the corners was a judgement call.

I finished 2nd out of 12 in Sport Single Speed. I dropped down to Sport SS this spring but still, that a good result for me. I felt better after the race.

When I got home, my garage door, for no logical reason, started working again just as it stopped working, for no logical reason, back in June. Sometimes shit just doesn't make sense. This is an ideology I can live with.