Back to reality

It's always tough to get back in to the swing after going away on a race trip. I was telling Colt in a CyclingDirt interview that going to those races is like a psuedo fantasy life where I can pretend to be a pro cyclist! I'll take it though, fun stuff.

I managed to move in to a solid 2nd on the last day despite thinking that we had taken a wrong turn during the race. Jeremiah, Drew and I got away about a third of the way in to the race but all of a sudden on this one long climb we could see a group of riders in front of us, one jersey I recognized to be Christian, 3rd overall just 7 seconds behind me. I panicked a little and rode way too hard to close the gap but we did, and actually rode right by the group and regained the lead. Turns out they had cut the course, not us, so we were OK. I was blown from that effort though so when it came time to ramp it up in to the finish I just cruised in for 3rd happily. Never would have thought I could have come back from 7th overall to 2nd!

The trip home was harder than the race- spent the night with Tim Darwick in State College with Blake Harlan and Colt. Blake and I had to be at the airport at 5 so it made sense to get as close as we could. Finally fell asleep on the floor about 1 am... and about 2 Tim's roommate came home drunk and started making food and banging around. 3 hours of sleep turned in to 2 and we were at the airport. 3 flights later I landed in SLC. Tired is an understatement.

Since I've been back I've been wearing many hats- prepping and showing Spring 2011 Pearl Izumi Run, worked a trunk show with Kaenon Polarized at an optical office yesterday, selling some tires, etc.

Next up is the Firecracker 50 in Breck on the 4th. Its right after our S11 Pearl Izumi sales meeting and Sammi's sister's wedding. Going to have to hold out on the open bar, try to get to bed at a reasonable hour and get a few spins in to avoid the dreaded "sales meeting legs."