Well, it's a start

I have to start getting myself going earlier in the day. I got to the race just as the race I wanted to go in left. Afterwards, several of the riders saw me after the race and were saying they were glad I wasn't there after remembering my last few Westlake races last year. I was up helping pull the pack apart with the A&F and Texas Roadhouse guys there. Saturday, I had to be content to race down a category which wound up amounting to me just riding hard and pulling the field around to a large extent. I came across the line first, but didn't have myself listed nor take money. It's just not cool to do that and I know guys who've done it. The guy who finished second is a younger racer and just learning the game. I was quick to compliment him on the move he made at the end. The finish came thru a sketchy turn with not only potholes, but alot of crap which didn't get cleared off by anyone connected to the race. He said he noticed it after the first lap and didn't want any part of it for the finish. It was a good move to be off the front as others were a bit nervous about going thru the turn and I rolled past him at the end. He jumped out of the saddle and was doing a serious bike wag trying to stay out there. A bigger gear might've kept him there. For a second year rider, he seems to be learning quicker than most. I like helping the younger riders learn the game better. When I get the chance in the summer, I like going down to the Tuesday night races in Pittsburgh and marshaling the beginner and womens races. There are alot of new riders there and sometimes, just a quick tip on how to ride in the pack or using the gearing makes alot of difference. It's the type of thing I wish I had when I was starting out. I've seen many riders just quit the sport because after getting shelled out week after week they just figure it's too tough and they will never make it. It's a good feeling when you see their faces when they've not only finished the race, but also felt like they were part of it. To me, this is what the sport should be about.

Yesterday, I continued on the training with the Mo'town mountain bike ride. It got pretty warm out and we did a bit more than 3 hours. I'm feeling stronger and made it up the climbs much better and was going quicker on the trails and decents. I'm still a bit nervous on the real steep dropoffs with the rocks and logs all over the trail. I proved last year that you can do an endo on a 29er. After a broken bone in the hand from that, it's not a feat I'm inclined to repeat.

Past the riding, I really feel the need to buy a lottery ticket. In the past week, I had a very successful West Coast trip for work, came back to commitments for 3 servers, a couple workstations, 4 notebook computers and a handful of other equipment, plus the labor to get all of it set up. This with the web work we've gotten in the past month, plus my normal contracts and things are going quite spiffy. I've managed to come up aces at every turn, though I'm a bit nervous about how good things seem to be going. I'm currently flashing on my mantra - Fly straight, don't BS, keep the ball rolling. OOOMMMMMMMMM, OOOMMMMMMMMM. repeat as needed.