Exeter Time Trial
(NRC for the femmes, BigBragFest for the fellas)
Even though i’ve only been on my bike a grand total of 75 minutes this week, since some consider me a “personality of the sport” (read as, “jeezus, there is he again…), i was given a late start time at the TT today. Yup, started around the 15 spot … which meant 14 riders all were able to swing a little jollies in my face as they passed my suffering, slobering, knights-in-white-satin ass (and yes, the VOS skinsuit is on the way … but, sometimes you’ve got to rock the dead with a bit of ghost riding, you dig?). Now, i don’t want to say i cracked out there today … but, they should prolly rename one of the San Andreas fault-lines after me.
yeah, it was ugly out there on my end … but i tell you what ~ if there’s ever been a more beautiful time trial course ridden in the history of the cyclo-verse .. i’ve never heard of it.
When BennyJackMaynes thundered past me … it was like watching a roman sculpture given life. Those perfectly symmetrical calves, each delicately split down the middle by a jauntily etched vein, naturally complimented the idyllic scene of soft blossoming hills and delightfully disappearing central valley roads.
It was such a pleasure to be in the same race … well, er … on the same course as such a world class time trialist. Watching Ben roll over that terrain like the jolly green giant on an afternoon stroll … well, if you ever needed inspiration to get out there on the bike and just make the training happen … there it is.
Ben Jaques-Maynes is the man.
But I tell you what ~ there are some up and comers in this sport. The Giant Strawberry crew got a big boost from their young stallions … Ozzie Olmos, Max the Jenkins, TDibble. You can’t expect them to push themselves to the level of those top-10 guys … but, you know it’s on the horizon for those guys. And speaking of a top-10 guy … Zwizza stormed to a 7th place and signals to me that the Bissell squad could very well put on a show at this year’s TourDayGeorgia TEAMTIMETRIAL. That is gonna be so damn hot to watch.
And, i think a nice mirror to those young manlies were the rockstar performances of Hutch (x2) and Thurlowtheglow. They are badass. ’nuff said.
– – –
But, we’re really here for the women .. NRC, baby.
To run out of superlatives … is only to be expected when attempting to describe the show put in today by the REAL Armstrong.
Kirsten, plain and simple, is one of those once in an epoc spikes of genetic mutation … an other-worldy combination of preternatural beastly spirit and contained cogitative discipline of the mind. She’s an invading visigoth with a Phd.
just awesome to watch.
But there are other stories to tell…
Alexis the HighRhodes took 2nd in the competition between the rest of the mortals (and, we rightfully call it a “win” for that young rider … ‘cuz Armstrong is THE class in the world when it comes to racing against the clock. i mean, let’s face it ~ if there are a ton more women who can actually compete on an even plain with Kirsten … we should round them all up and breed them like super-soldiers. i mean, we could probably take over a few galaxies with them femmes at the forefront…).
Stomping herself onto the final coveted podium spot, with all the spit and vinegar we’ve come to expect, was none other than that micro-scientest of the sport … Felicia Gomez (Aaron’s ProCycling). What I’ve been impressed with in Felicia over these past two seasons is her ability to balance a healthy, steaming plate of ambition, with a nodding, grudging acceptance that at her level (the top of the American circuit), all improvements are incremental and coated with patient, never-ending discipline. She keeps moving forward, and that is greatness in the making.
For the NorCal ~
Van Houweling (MetroMint) showed she is, once again, one of the best time trialists in our talent heavy region. She has a solid position on the bike and can pace herself in a controlled, yet impassioned manner. She gives it all out there and always has a smile to share about it. She makes me want to have fun on the bike.
The face that rises next in impression has to be the EmZell of PROMAN. Her 11th against that field shows how much her inner fire has been stoked and kindled by the PROMAN outfit. They’re sending riders over to Europe, free and clear and wanting them to push their own boundaries of what can be done. Hell yeah, people.
To say that Martina Patella’s (ValueActCapital) ride today was a breakthrough is almost as big of an understatment as saying KatCarroll’s (Aaron’s ProCycling) was in her amazing fistfull of 5th. Patella and Carroll are actually 2 riders in which i see a lot of similarities. Both are fast finishing hardwomen. They each have a flashing intelligence behind the eyes, even if Carroll is a bit more introverted than the media-savvy YellowBug.
In this and next season, I can see Patella growing into the rider that Carroll is becoming. The powerful Aaron’s rider is an interesting phenomenon – she’s shown she can bang it out in UCI stage races for sprinter’s jersey’s, but also pound away at the horrid, horrid silence of suffering that is the long, solo breakaway … OR, the unforgiving, unrelenting race of truth. Carroll has just become a GC threat.
There are yet more stories to tell, but desert is being called upon and me and the woman are having more fun this weekend then Spitzer spending bonus miles.
more soon,
~m

beauty was in bloom today

Flavia Oliveira embodies VanderKitten

There was no reason VanGilder needed to push 100% today …
but that’s the kind of Professional she is. One of the best US athletes … ever.

oh my Amber … mayhaps a bit too deep in the aero-file?
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