Bisbee
If you ever wondered where old white guys with dread locks go when they get old, it is Bisbee. The place is crawling with them. The town itself is pretty cool. It kind of reminds me of a less commercial Key West minus the ocean. Lots of funky little shops run by old hippies. There is a huge old open pit copper mine practically in the middle of town. The town itself is in this steep narrow canyon with little narrow streets placed randomly like a lot of old boom towns.
The prologue started in the middle of town and went right up Main Street, finishing 2.8 miles and 837 vertical feet later on Mule Pass. I rode the course twice in warm up and felt pretty good. Not great but good. After a 90 minute warm up I was ready to go. I have never liked or done well at time trials. Every once in a while I will pull off a good result but for the most part they are a weak point for me. Looking at the start list I see that Jelly Belly pro and Euro‘cross honch Jeremy Powers is starting 30 seconds behind me. Great. My new goal is to see how long I can hold him off. I started pretty conservatively hoping to have some legs for the last mile where it is the steepest. Did I mention the wind? Yeah, there was a nice 15-20 mph headwind. In no time I am at my max and starting to bog down. Amazingly by the halfway point I have caught the guy who started 1:00 in front of me (my :30 guy did not start). Just before I reach the steep stuff Powers comes flying by. Shit I wish I was 24 again. I passed one guy and got passed by one guy so all I can tell you is I know I am not last or first.
Tomorrow is a mostly flat 87 mile road race followed by an 8.6 rolling TT in the afternoon. The road race will be my first in since last June. My morale is great and I think I have good legs so who knows. Whatever happens I will give it my all and be happy with it.
Ride Safe
