I was surprised on the day before my last day when one of the partners of the company called me and made me an offer to stay. I thought I wasn't liked by any of the higher-ups, but turns out I was being fed false information by some of my more immediate superiors. My changing to part-time actually was an option the whole time. It also helped that Jessi called them and told them how much they were screwing up by letting me go. The offer they made me was to float around the company and fill in for people that take vacation. It's a similar position to the new place job I accepted, only STAR makes me more excited because it is outpatient, which I like much better than long-term care. I am not required to do any certain amount of hours. I can basically work if I want, or say no if I want to train. It makes much more sense for me to do this. I can set up a real training program, be off on the days I need to race, and study for my upcoming exams. It even came with higher pay! Plus I can work with the people I want to work with. I have control here in every aspect except guaranteed hours. Shannon and I are very good with a budget and are sitting good right now. We can pay the bills if I don't get a single hour for the month. We are kind of tightwads anyway.
So my first week "off" saw me work two days at Ashland City, filling in for myself. So I got paid more to do my same job and got to work with Jessi. Things are starting off well! I also worked a day with my Mom. She works occasionally for a school fundraiser service that sells and delivers cookie dough and candy bars. She got associated with them through her time as secretary at our local elementary school. Turns out the owner rides bikes and practically begged me to tag along with her for a few deliveries. And he paid us well too, almost as much as I make doing therapy!
My first ever cookie dough delivery took me to Manchester, TN. It's a good drive from our house, but we get paid drive time so I was good with that. We meet the delivery truck there, unload the cookie dough boxes and separate all the orders. Sometimes we actually hand out the orders to the parents/kids as they pick them up, but here we just separated the orders for later pick-up, so we were done early. Manchester is not far from the AEDC trails, so we took mountain bikes and hit the trails after work. One lap is 12.5 miles, which is a bit long for my Mom, but she did well. There's minimal climbing, but what is there comes all in the last 3-4 miles. I enjoyed the ride. It was not the best trail I have ever been on, but it was far from bad.
AEDC Trails from my GPS
Following my Mom at AEDC
Green snake hanging out by the trail
A portion of the trail runs next to Woods Reservoir
A pine forest planted years ago
I also worked on our backyard trail that week, spending lots of time blowing leaves and trimming a few new sections. We have spent a lot of time on a new section around the pond. We did a lot of benching to add in some fun rollers on the hillside and extend the length of the trail. I filmed one full lap of the trail (4.4 miles) with the GoPro helmet cam and you can see it below. Go ahead and watch it. You know you want to ride a lap with me!
A full lap of my backyard trail
We also put in the rest of our garden. Lettuce, spinach, kale and carrots were already in the ground and doing well, but it was time for the rest of the stuff to be planted. We have about twice as much garden space as last year. We planted green beans, peas, peppers, tomatoes, squash, zucchini, okra, onions and cucumbers. I can't wait to eat some fresh salads and pickles later this summer!
I was a little worried about my body when we departed for Athens on Friday afternoon. The week was very physical and I was worn out! My Mom decided to go with us again this year. She said it was a fun weekend last year, even if it did pour rain all day at Roswell. We hit Prater's BBQ for dinner, a place we saw while in Manchester for the cookie dough. It's a good place, with much more to offer than just BBQ.
Going down on Friday was really nice come Saturday morning. We were just 10 minutes from the morning race course, so we were able to sleep in and take it easy instead of getting up stupid early and driving like a maniac for 3+ hours. I got in a great warm-up and was feeling good for the Cat. 1/2 race. My legs felt great! So much for worrying about being tired. The goal was a top 10, or at least a top 35 to get into the evening Amateur Finals on the fun course.
Every year I write about how much I despise the morning course. It's just not my style. I always wind up getting blocked in on the backside and having to produce a crazy sprint just to make that top 35. It's the layout of the course that causes the bunching effect. The front stretch has an uphill to the finish line, then a downhill to turn 1. The backside of the course is flat. Nobody wants to pull back there because they want to save their strength for the hill.
Cat. 1/2 group on the line
I was in green this week and sporting an even bigger beard
Cat. 1/2 race gets underway
Peloton rolls down the hill toward Turn 1 for the first time
I had a good start and stayed up front early, which is the first time I have ever been able to do that. usually I hang onto the back the first 20 minutes and almost get dropped a few times. There was a slowing on the backstretch about 4 laps into the race and the guy behind me evidently forgot where his brakes were. He plowed into the back of me, pushing my rear derailleur into my back wheel. It immediately shredded the derailleur, hanger and a fair number of spokes in my wheel. I was a long way from the pit and unable to roll, much less ride. The moto official told me to call it a day because it would take me too long to get to the pit. I was not about to quit. I ran the rest of the lap up the hill to the pit. You can't cut across the course here unless you want to swim. The course goes around a river.
The group made 2 laps before I finally made it to the pit. The SRAM crew went to work getting me sized up for one of their neutral pit bikes. I was handed a Specialized Tarmac with SRAM Red shifting and sweet Zipp wheels. The crew joked with me to not bring their bike back looking like mine. I was reinserted into the race at the back, but quickly moved back up. Shifting required a bit more thinking on my part as I have never ridden SRAM double-tap levers before. One lever shifts both ways on the cogset. My Shimano shifters have two separate levers. I shifted the wrong way several times coming out of the corners. That kept me from ever getting to the very front. I followed an attack at one to go, but it almost blew me up and I had little left for the sprint, but wound up getting into the Finals by grabbing 27th place. Not bad for a crazy race and doing it on a bike I am not familiar with.
Me in the group, still on my bike here
Pro rider Nathan Brown's younger brother, Johnny Brown, taking a dig off the front
Johnny Brown still pushing on
A Hincapie Devo rider attacks
You can see me on the left of the group here as we come up the hill
I'm on the SRAM Neutral Support bike now
The group comes up the hill to get 1 lap to go
Me cranking those Zipp wheels behind Johnny Brown just as he launches another attack at 1 to go
Here's our video of the morning crit. action:
Video: Athens Twilight AM Qualifier races
I returned their pit bike and the SRAM mechanics did their best to fix my bike. The wheel was ok other than missing about 10 spokes. The hanger and derailleur were destroyed. I knew I could find a derailleur at a local shop, but derailleur hangers are specific to each model of bike. And Jamis is far from a common brand to see rolling down the road. SRAM had over 100 hangers, but none fit my bike. We began calling local shops with no luck. A local rider recommended we go to Georgia Cycle Sport and ask them for help, so we did. They managed to fix my wheel and get me a used Ultegra derailleur for a cheap price. They could have easily taken advantage of our situation, but they did not. While they did not have a hanger that fit, they did find out what part number it was and recommended two other shops in town that might have one. The mechanic there even tried to make me a custom hanger that would get me through the evening race, but we couldn't get it to work.
The next shop acted uninterested in helping us. They wouldn't even look at their hangers. We then went to The Hub Bicycles. Again no hanger, but these guys went through about 60 before giving up. We finally made it back to the hotel about two hours before the Finals were set to start. I still had my clothes on from the morning race. We hadn't sat down long enough to let me change. I began trying to make a singlespeed as it was looking like this bike was all I was going to have. Neutral support gives you bikes, but only during the race. You have to start the race on your own bike. I figured I could make something shotty that would get me through a few laps and then I could break a chain and head for the pits. I was desperate to race! I worked hard on the singlespeed idea for over an hour outside in the heat. It didn't work. We tried talking to one of the Pro team mechanics that was putting together bikes in our hotel's parking lot, but he didn't speak any English. My Mom found a shop near Atlanta that had a hanger that matched the picture of my hanger, but didn't have a part number on it. Even if it was the right hanger, I did not have time to drive there and get back before the race. The shop owner did offer to leave the hanger outside the shop so we could check it out the next morning on our way to Roswell.
It was time to turn to Facebook. I hate Facebook and social media in general, but sometimes it can help you get things done. Shannon posted a desperate plea on my status and within three minutes I had not one, but two offers for bikes! The first was from Eli Wemyss who is from Clarksville. He didn't qualify during the Cat. 4 race, so he said I could use his bike. The second offer was from Mike Edens. Thanks for the offer Mike!
I got Eli's Cannondale and began changing out wheels and adjusting saddle height. He is a lot smaller than me, but the small frame actually felt good. He uses Shimano so my wheels were compatible. I got in most of my warm-up too. It was a crazy day already and the craziness of Athens was just getting started! Lining up for the race was a mess as usual. They told us to line up in turn 3, then moved it to turn 4 and finally we ended up just lining up at the start line. Some of the officials and even the promoter were a bit too stressed. They asked the group to make a hole so a car could go down the course. We moved and yet the promoter still felt the need to yell at us. He even grabbed one of the Juniors and shoved him. The kid wasn't even in the way. The other riders quickly came to the aid of the Junior. Of course, the officials wanted to DQ everyone that came to the sided with the kid, which was totally backwards. The promoter was being an A-hole and needed to learn some discipline from the group. There was no need for that. He better be glad Athens Twilight is the biggest race around or most of us would never support his event ever again.
As usual, the Finals were blazing fast. I started in the middle of the pack and dodged the first crash, which happened a mere 50 meters into the race. Eli's bike felt great. The position and handling felt identical to my Jamis. I was very comfortable on it through the turns and with sprinting.
Me riding the outside early on. Eli's black Cannondale looks almost identical to my Jamis. Especially with my wheels on it.
I was patient early and let things calm down before I moved up. There was a slowing around lap 10 of 20. I moved to the front just in time to see a bunch of vicious attacks go up the road. My heart rate was pegged and I was forced to retreat back into the group, never to see the front again. That effort hurt me and I never recovered from it. I tried to move up with 3 to go, but the bunch was spread out and there was simply no room for me to pass. Holes opened with a lap to go, but by then the pace was full-on at 30+ mph and all I could do was pick off a few riders and not die through the final few corners. I kept Eli's bike in one piece and crossed the line in 41st. That was nowhere close to where I had hoped to finish, but I was grateful just to have been able to race considering how the day had gone. We averaged 27.0 mph for the Finals.
A break off midway through the race
Me still being sneaky next to the barriers in my stinky green clothes. Never did get to change after the morning race. Only changed numbers.
After the race, we changed everything back to Eli's settings, gave him the bike back and then watched the Pro races. They were both great races. Actually they were some of the best Pro races I have seen here at Athens in several years. Very fast and aggressive from both the Men and Women. Chris did the Pro race this year to check off one of things on his bucket list. I think he checked off two as he also got in a big pro crash. While he may not have had that on his list, it is one of those crazy things you need to experience as a bike racer to fully appreciate the Pro races. He was unhurt and continued on afterwards, lasting most of the race before getting pulled. There was an odd crash with an official that forced a stoppage of the race. A crash had happened in turn 1. The official was trying to help as the pack came around the next lap and they plowed him. The riders could not see around the turn and had nowhere to go. He should have moved and someone should have been signaling the riders that there was danger ahead. It was a mess. Watch the crash below.
Another view of the crash, including the initial wreck.
Our Pro race video is posted here:
Watch highlights of the Pro Women and Pro Men below.
Pro Women's highlights video
Pro Men's highlights
Full race replay
We got up early Sunday so we could go by the bike shop on our way to church in Sandy Springs. We had breakfast with the officials and the SRAM mechanic. They were swapping war stories from the night before, including tales of the big crash with the moto official. We drove to Decatur Bikes and found the hanger. As I went to compare it to my busted hanger, I dropped half of the busted one and it went into a hole I have in the console of my car. Really?!! We could not see the piece, so we had to unload the entire car to get my bike out and actually mount it to the frame to see if it fit. It did! What a miracle! The crisis was almost over! It was actually my birthday and I could think of nothing better for my birthday than to be able to race MY bike. After church, we high-tailed it to Roswell and I began building up my bike. New housing, cable, chain, hanger and derailleur were installed and adjusted just in time to get on the trainer for warm-up. Lucky for me they were running behind for the races and I was able to relax with my warm-up instead of rush it.
The Cat. 2/3 race was shortened a bit due to the time delays. I had to start near the back and had difficulty early as the pace was ridiculous fast. We averaged 27.4 mph for the first 25 minutes. I was moving up as the field crumbled behind me. Every time I looked back I was on the back.
Me out of the saddle on the front stretch
Shannon got lots of shots of me today
I am HURTING here. Hold that wheel!
A one rider crash happened early in the race. He was near the front when he went down and somehow nobody else hit him.
Me again
The group is strung out! And the guy to the left may be taking a leak.
There were only about 40 riders of the original 90 starters left as we saw 5 laps to go. Then there was a crash on the front stretch with 4 to go. It happened up front and busted the group to pieces. I missed the crash, but was hung out between groups. I turned myself inside-out to get to the front group. As I got there, another crash happened at 2 to go. I had nothing left to close the gap again and just tried to grab wheels as people came by. It wasn't much of a sprint finish as the group was strung out all over the course the last lap. I faded as my legs blew up with 1 to go. I finished 33rd with a 26.7 mph average speed for the day. Ouch.
Me in turn 5
In my opinion, the inside of turn 5 is the best place to watch a race at Roswell.
Shannon hovered over me like a drone to get this shot.
Single-file between turns 4 and 5
Me with a few laps to go
Chris got 2nd in the Masters 45+ race. He may have even won it if some numskull hadn't chopped him in the next-to-last corner and caused a big accident. The Pro Women finished just as a big black cloud rolled over the course. By the time the Pro Men started, it looked like last year with torrential rain. We ate lunch at the Fickle Pickle, which is located right at the Start/Finish line. Then we ran to the car in the rain and set sail for home. I wanted to see all of the Men's race, but I wasn't willing to get soaked for it and drive home 4 hours in wet clothes. It rained all the way home. I am so glad we were able to race before the rain arrived. The weekend was crazy enough without a wet course to deal with.
Our race video from Roswell is posted below.
You can also rewatch the live broadcast of the Pro Women and Pro Men's events below. The feed went down during the Men's race, so there are actually two videos below. The second one picks up the Men's race where the first one stopped.
Pro Women's full race and start of Pro Men's race video
Part 2 of the Pro Men's race video
Thanks again Eli for lending me your bike!
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