The Blood The Sweat The Tears The Warda The Jester

Oooh, it was a great weekend for bike enthusiasts! We had both The King of Jester which I, Farrow "Khan", attended and The Warda with "Cajun" Caroline, Erin "Silver Bullet" Koers, Jaunda "Shaley", Raymund "Funky Cold" Codina, Bobby "Iron Chef" Kitchen, Eric "Gimme" Moore, Tommy "The Sly" Fuchs, and James "the doctor" Sander. It was a great day for racing--temps were in the mid 60s early in the morn. I stayed the night at Deb's and hung out with her and Bike Drost. We went to Shady Grove for dinner then called it pretty early...no 6th street that night.

We had left my car at Jester Village the night before so I could have a prime spot, so Deb drove me in the morning. The sad story of the weekend was Weihan's misfortune of a flat on his car! He was barely outside of Houston when it happened, so there was no way for him to make it. Now it was down to me alone to represent. It was a fun atmosphere--everyone was nice and joking around. Even though it was a race, there was no posturing, or psyching out--it was something everyone was doing to see how each of them can do personally. The TT. The race of truth. It was nice because Pure Fit supplied trainers to warm up on before our time came up...I warmed up for about a half an hour which I think helped a ton. The best banner I saw was for the race, which said "Run Bike Crawl." Too funny! Actually, it almost came to that on the 5k run--this one guy was in pretty bad shape and looked like his knee was giving out or something and he actually fell while he was coming back down the hill. It was bad. Deb ran to help, but he insisted on finishing. That hill coming down cannot be good for your joints.

After the "alternate human power" TT, where a guy in inline skates and another on a unicycle raced up the hill, it was the main event. We qued up behind the ramp and waited our turn. I was pretty relaxed, except for the fact that I had "adequately" hydrated that morning--thats the problem with bibs...why am I thinking of getting a speed suit?!? It was an electric atmosphere. They announced our names right before we mounted the ramp. Everyone cheered everytime someone left and they had cowbells that rang loud and often. It was my turn. "Whenever you're ready." With a nod and a push I was off! I was churning pretty good, with relaxed breathing. I kept my face stoic...not sure why...there were no mind games to play with anyone else since I was there by myself. I passed 3 other racers up the hill, one of which had told me he never rode the hill--he was having a hard time early. I was pretty surpised--I was still feeling good over halfway, past where it started to pitch towards 20%+...then it happened. Breathing somehow got out of control and I started to feel the lactic acid build up in my legs. Lungs burning, I fought every desire to stop and take a breather...I knew the minute I stopped, it would be over.

I clicked it back a few notches to get my breathing back into control. It worked, but now I was out of the saddle just trying to keep it all together and smooth. That's when I heard Deb and her newly-found cheering section for me! "Go Kenny," an unfamiliar voice yelled. Then a couple of women started running up the hill with me, screaming, saying I was doing great. I was able to get back down on my seat and clicked up a gear. I could now see the finish banner. I put a few final bursts in, but I was toast. Like in Mission Impossible, "Toast!...Toast!..." my legs were saying. I could taste the metallic, blood-like taste in my spit...my lungs were on fire. It was finally over...3mins, 20secs of pain, over. After talking to the people who Deb befriended, who were actually related to Eric, the unicyclist, I cruised back downhill, trying to check my speed. I quickly sought nourishment and had "oxygenated" water and a fabulous breakfast taco! We hung out a bit but then I had to leave to make it back over to Warda in time for the beginner races. I thanked Deb for everything and I was off.

I got there 30mins before race start. Everyone was generally in good spirits. Was it because Lulu was there? Possibly...how can you not smile, looking at that cuteness. Too much. After I fed everyone lies about what to expect (look out for the gorilla around the 3rd turn, etc), I positioned myself around the course to take pictures. I wished a bit that I was racing, but it was okay--it was fun to watch everyone, especially it was the first mtb race for most of them...I think Jaunda was the only veteran of the group! Jaunda was hilarious--everytime she saw me, she was like, "Farrow!!", or "oh hi, what are you doing here?!?" Ummm, I guess she isn't lying when she says she's not competing, just riding. Too funny. Caroline was on a mission--I was afraid to be on the same course she was! Erin was having a great ride--she confided that she waited for the climbs to catch a lot of them. The women had a great race again--Erin captured 2nd, Caroline, 5th! Tommy, slacking somewhere in the race, missed the podium by 3 seconds! Oh man, he can never live that one down. 3 seconds.

So that was it. Anyone at the race who is reading this please add comments as I can only provide 2nd hand info from Warda. Again, a fun weekend on the bike! Now, its business--back to adventure racing, back to Eco Lonestar.