So my season is going as expected. 10 races in and I have yet to see a finish. I have taken a year and given it over to the thing I like to call my job. This year has a lot of travel for me and my racing results are suffering. In the last 4 weeks I have spent 10 days in New York, been to Germany, Jacksonville, FL, South Georgia, Cleveland, and I am headed back to NY this Sunday after riding the Triple Bypass. Oh well, I have been sporting the awesome Rio Grande kits and gotten to do some great races in New York and New Hampshire. The riding there is fantastic and I am living in Saratoga Springs for the second time in my life. It is a great town and is Pat Varley’s hometown. BTW – has anyone seen him recently? He is harder to find at a race these days than Jimmy Hoffa. He has people that actually live in his house with him and they report no sightings. Oh well, his body will will turn up soon. Back to Saratoga. I have an apartment there and the lifestyle is monastic. Work, ride, and eat with some racing on the weekends. The racing scene there involves longer drives but the quality is good. I did do the Tour of the Battenkill in April which was a fantastic race. I heard that it is the largest single race in the country in terms of participation. I raced the 3’s and there were two waves of 3’s with 125 riders in each wave so that should give you an idea. 60 miles with 20 miles of dirt and some 18% hills. The best part was watching Scott Nydam’s awesome solo victory in the Pro category. For those that don’t know, Scott is a Rio Grande alumnus and now rides for BMC.
So this weekend we will brave the 3500 people in the triple bypass that include good riders and a few gumps and tourons (a cross between tourist and morons). The miles and climbing will do me good and it has been 5 years since I have done this. Let’s hope the weather holds and it is not too hot but when you are in the mountains you get what you get.
