NEXT!!!!!

Well since the rain and thunderstorms trashed Falling Creek Park, it looks like my next foray into mountainbike racing will be next weekend May 23-24. I will be teaming up with some local friends to form a relay team for the Burn 24. I really enjoyed the trails and the idea of the 6 Hours of Warrior Creek, so returning to the area for this race should be fun. I have no clue really how this will be. I don't know how many laps I can pull off as part of my team. The laps are about 7 miles from what I understand. Depending on terrain, I should be able to do a lap in an hour or less. Not sure what the strategy will be either. I think I'll just go have fun and do the best I can. My other delimma is what kind of food to take?!?! I'm not real big into the nutrition suppliments that others chow down on regularly, and I really don't know how to prepare for a 24 hour event. I have a huge list of stuff to take, but I need to figure the food thing out. Any advice is appreciated, feel free to post.

Regarding Falling Creek Park, from what I understand three bridges got completely washed out, several others were moved from their supports and the trails are totally impassable due to the water. I've also heard that that area got 2 inches of rain last night, so it's no wonder. This really sucks because Kenny Palmer is an awesome dude and puts in a lot of time and effort to take care of the trails out there, plus he's a great race promoter. I'm selfishly disappointed as I won this race last year by 3 seconds and have looked forward racing it again this year since. The rain date was originally advertised to be 6/13, hence I went ahead and registered. Had I known the rain date was 6/20, I wouldn't have preregistered given the excessive amount of rain we've had this year. I leave for the beach on 6/19, so I will be on vacation while my friends sweat it out.

Now what to do about races? It seems like they are few and far between this year for some reason, and that in order to race, you're going to have to travel to get to them. I missed MMM because of the kitchen remodel, but the non-XXC race wasn't run (rain, shocking I know) and supposedly will be rescheduled. I'm hoping that I can do that race. There is a race in Danville on May 31st that I may go to depending on if I survive the Burn. After that, I've seen a couple of races in July that I would consider. One on July 12 at Walnut Creek, and the other on July 19 in Greensboro (The Sizzler, been there done that, fun course). Beyond that there is another race in Wilkesboro on August 23. The Southside Scramble in Danville is September 26 and I could go to that one. Finally, I think there will be a race in Montvale in October.

Ok, enough rambling about racing, today was Clean Commute Day! I did get up and ride to work today! It poured rain here last night (milder version of the storms that hit Bedford), so the roads and greenways were wet and slippery. I rode my road bike as planned. Left my house late because I was searching for my Garmin and my rainjacket; neither of which I found until tonight. I had to really ride hard to make it to work in time to change and clock in on time. My lucky breaks came on Valley View Blvd when all lights were green. This stroke of luck was waiting after I crossed Orange Ave too!!! I had to stop in front of the Poff Bldg where I pulled off a nifty trackstand while waiting on the light. I duplicated this feat again in front of the hospital. YAY ME!!!

At mid-day I had to switch job locations, so I had to roll my bike and all of my assorted gear four blocks to my other locale. I didn't figure it would be a good idea to ride the bike with scrub pants and crocs while on the clock. I could see me catching my pants leg in the chain ring or bottle rack and crashing. Wonder if that would covered under work comp? After work, I changed back into bike clothes and walked down to my lonely bicycle. I looked up as I was putting my shoes on to see it pouring rain at Riversedge. I laughed and I swear there was small hail in it as I started towards home. I debated stopping and hiding from the rain, but it wasn't raining that bad, so I kept going. I did think ahead though of places where I could seek refuge if the clouds opened up. I fortunately didn't need it. I took my time and meandered home. What took me 20 minutes to achieve this morning, took 45 this afternoon.

Biking to work is fun!!! I'm going to try to do this on a regular basis!!! Ok, going to play Wii now. Biking at the Cove tomorrow! YAY~~