rubber mat

At least once a week Rosie and the girls meet me at Sunnyside park by the VA for lunch and Eva and I play on the swings and slides. Underneath the swing set they have this thick soft rubber mat to protect the kids from head injuries when turfing it. When I ride my bike down to meet them I always get my speed up before hitting the rubber mat and then see how long it takes me to come to a stop without using my brakes, about 5 ft as the rolling resistance or coefficient of friction is off the charts. Yesterday at Icup #4 at Sherwood hills resort we had the opportunity to race for 2 hours on single track seemingly made from the this same rubber mat.

The mix of moisture, lack of use, and the air in the soil from the freeze thaw cycle turned normally ripping fast single track into painfully slow pedal on the downhill one track. I guess it seemed worse because I was having all sorts of stomach issues and just could not get the power going but either way it was slow. I think the worse part is without much real mud it looked like you should be going fast. During the race I was not able to eat or drink and barely got donw 3/4 of a bottle in 2hrs. I new when it was time to pick up the pace for the finish I would be in trouble, and sure enough with about 10 minutes to go I ran out of energy and Alex got a little gap on me that he held to the finish. Maybe his summer streak is starting early this year.

On the drive home I could not keep my eyes open and had a hard time eating. I went to bed early last night but have now woken up with a little cold. With all 3 of the girls battling a cold last week I figured it was only a matter of time before my turn, I am fragile you know!

"sometimes you feel like a nut and sometimes you don't", I guess that's the challenge of bike racing. Always next week!

Now it's time to make chocolate chip pancakes for mothers day!