My last week.. not final week.

in ,

by: Mat Stephens

Tuesday I went in to work for a bit, shook hands, kissed babies and was out of there. I made my way out to the local Tuesday Nighter and got there early to play Mechanic for the bike shop. I helped out the C & B racers, showed the A racers where the pump was, and prepped for my race. The course was a bit torn up and dirty from construction but at least they fixed the moon crater on the exit of turn 1! Overall everyone seemed a bit apprehensive due to the course and everyone raced fairly conservatively. It was a good example of how the weather, course, or outside influence affects the racers’ attitudes and how that can be a huge influence on the way any race is raced. Some of the younger RBM riders were riding strong and there never seemed to be the right mix of riders from ELBOWZ and RBM so it was a stalemate all the way to the sprint. In the end Bret and I chased down Chris Carlson, dropped off Tyler at the last turn and he finished it off with a win.

Home ownership is great besides all the work that goes into it! Got up, strapped the boots on that day and mowed the lawn. Went to work, had a good day and then Wednesday evening brought a motorpacing session. After work I jumped on the trusty Specialized to meet my wife at our newfound loop. I was ready to go but the scooter wouldn’t start! I hate that when you’re body and mind are all set to do something and the plans change for no good reason! Luckily this wasn’t the case this time as finally the scooter cooperated, the grumpy old beast from 1984 was ready to start, and we were able to get a session in this time. The weather was perfect albeit a bit windy and I got a great workout in before sunset hit.

Thursday: Wasn’t too bad off from the previous days’ rides and decided to race the local crit after work. Made it across to the break with birthday boy Chad Harvey to make about 11 riders with Bret and Tyler already being in the move. We all worked smoothly until Collin Davis got angry and attacked. That produced a group of 5 with Tyler and myself representing. With 4 to go Collin got angry again, I followed, and we 2 were away. We sized each other up for the remaining laps and the sprint was on, with me taking victory for ELBOWZ. Collin had a great ride but the strength of my team allowed us to secure the win. Pretty good so far! On to Charlotte, hopefully the luck continues!