Bloomer 2010

I did the Bloomer race today in 1 hour 37 minutes, a minute quicker than last year.

I went to this race with realistic expectations so I was pleased with my time. It was just a good race: my legs felt good, my bike worked flawlessly, and my gear choice was spot on.

Cindy, Allie, Denny, and Barb came to watch.

Renee and Randy came to race.

Randy placed in his first race. Very cool.

Renee won her class...by over 5 minutes. It is only a matter of time until she is faster than me. She would probably be faster than me now if she was willing to descend hills as quickly as she ascends them.

Cindy got a bike this week. She's practicing for her first race.

Denny didn't race today. He sometimes takes pictures of races and posts them on his website instead. Today he let his son take the pictures, which I hijacked. Nice. Jeremy did a great job.

During my shake down ride on Thursday, it occurred to me I have been installing my rear wheel crooked. The Inglis’ horizontal drops give me a little flexibility in how I position my rear wheel. I always slide tire irons between the sides of the tire and chainstays to make sure the tire is centered. It struck me that the tire shouldn’t be centered; my rear wheel is dished so it should be closer to the left hand chain stay. I stopped riding and carefully lined up the rear wheel with the rest of the bike. The gear noise went away. I rolled my eyes. I just cannot comprehend how this didn’t occur to me before, like maybe the day I got the frame? I have this bad habit of assuming I am right and not looking at things objectively.

Maybe I have wasted too much time fretting over (not) training and where I (don’t) place.