What a busy few hours. Thanksgiving break began the moment Sarah Sturm and I left Durango in route to ABQ. She lives there and her awesome mom and sister were kind enough to let me sleep at their house again. We got in just in time for dinner, then Whitney and Miles from Fort Lewis drove down and arrived just before mid-night. Saturday morning we all woke up for the local cyclo-cross race. It was a 100% dry, which was a pleasant change from typical Durango races. But that was the end of my fun for a while, here is why:
Fifteen minutes before the race I am warming up and get a flat tire. I don't have spare wheels so we went to the car to change it, after scurrying to find a tube. Once I'm riding again, I realize I have a broken link in my chain, race starts in 10 minutes. I thank 6 lb. 8 oz. baby Jesus that Whitney Jones was around with his wrench hand, he had me rolling with two minutes to spare before the start. I arrived at the line and boom, I kept up my good streak and got the hole shot. I lead most of the first lap, with a sizable gap at times. I let two guys catch up so I wouldn't blow my load in the first five minutes of the one hour race. On lap two, I had de-je-vue, I heard air escaping from my tire. Turns out it wasn't Vietnam flashbacks, I had my second flat tire in 15 minutes...darn thorns of New Mexico. I made it to the pit, found Sarah who ran her bike over to me and I stole her rear wheel. I was back in the race, but now in almost 15th place. For the next 50 minutes I rallied my way back up, finishing somewhere between 6-8th place. Whitney hammered to 5th after taking over my lead for most of the race. Miles was just one spot behind me.
The announcer was great, cheering on the FLC riders and reliving my frantic flat tire(s) moments. For only $8 they put on a super sweet race, incredible course and even had green chili, burritos and coffee at the finish.
I don't know my final position because it was straight to the house to grab my bags, then to ABQ airport for my flight home. Now that I think about it, less than two hours before my flight I was still racing, nice. Any-who, now I'm living large on a Southwest Airlines flight, entire exit row to my self. I get to see Shannon, my puppy, and my house in just under an hour. What a day.
