MOUNTAIN BIKE TEAM, RESIDUAL WEIGHT

This was our team minus one yesterday at Horning's Hustle Mountain Bike Race. A couple of firsts , a second, fourth and I think a sixth. Matt moved to Pro men and as in my mind that is winning in itself. Last fall I missed the whole mountain bike and most of the cross season. I tried to keep fit ( I did) and not gain too much weight (5 pounds it was). The problem is I still have those 5 pounds. I could tell yesterday I wasn't as crisp up the climbs as I would like to have been. I really have never been thin but I have a race weight I am accustomed to and 5 pounds extra is quite a bit. Go buy 5 pounds of butter and put in in your jersey pocket the next time you ride your bike.

It will go in time. Eat well and ride lots and I will get to where I want to be in a month or so.

Back to the team. We have a reasonably small team, we are all friends and last year we finished third in the Rivercity Mountain Bike series, this year our goal is first. It will be tough but it will be possible. First I will need to loose that weight and finish first and not second. Serena will have to keep having fun (check out her blog (bend and beyond), Lea, who just returned to our team will just have to show up and keep scoring points, Jim will have stay healthy and not have any accidents on his new Trek Scratch and Bruce, who just returned from a summer in his home country of New Zealand, needs to ride his bike with gears instead of the single speed. He managed to win the Cat 1 19-34 on a single speed. So yes I think it is possible to beat the powerhouse Portland Teams, Team Dirt and the everstrong Pistis team from Grants Pass.

I do like the Team Dirt name though.

On the trip home, we had the usual banter from Ben, Jim and Chris about the other drivers, some of the other racers and of course me and Chris talking about Canada some. Chris Sheppard was in the car with us, he won the pro division and he is from Canada. He always has something fun to say. When I got home I watched the Paris Roubaix. Somehow I managed not to hear who had won all day so it was a perfect way to end a perfect cycling weekend. On Saturday Chris Horner won the overall in the Tour of Basque Country. His biggest win in his career.

Don