Baltimore, Merryland

MADDIE rocking the bike stand.

If you wear black knee-high compression socks, earplugs, and a thing over your eyes when traveling then you might be a pro cyclist. Can you name the rider?

Tina Pic Podium along with Jenn McRae and ?


Bike Jam – Baltimore, Maryland

On Saturday we raced in Baltmore, Merryland. Leaving Alexandria, Va to get to the race we ran into stopped traffic on I-95. Note to self, most people in Washington DC are probably getting out of the city for memorial weekend. Fortunately Tina along with her dad, Albert, were able to divert us around the jam and we arrived in plenty of time. I heard some folks were not as fortunate though and arrived with barely enough time to warm-up.

Tina won the race with her fantastic sprint again. What most people don’t realize is that it takes the effort of the whole team to deliver her into position. Tina gets the podium spot but it’s really considered a team effort. Way to go ladies.

Besides Tina winning, the other notables of the day were catching up with Eric “Blackhands” Jellum and Ken “No Sleep” Mills from Targetraining. Eric brought some supplies I needed from Wisconsin so that was greatly appreciated. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me at first but yes it actually was Pistol Petar Tomich working with the Navigator team. Good to see him! Of course it was nice to see everyone’s favorite ball buster Candice (no last name needed because everyone knows who Candice is. Kind of like just saying Madonna or Prince). Jim and I got to catch up with a Lake Placid friend, Jean Brennan, who is living in Baltimore for now. She said it didn’t occur to her that we would be at the race until she saw Jim walking around and then it hit her. I haven’t seen Jean for maybe two years so it was nice to know she is doing well. She used to race back in the day when Cannondale had a women’s team. Last but not least I ran into Heather and Bill Lebance and the grooviest 4 year-old I know, MADDIE! She likes to work on her bike, likes watching the Tour de France and her mom race, and listens to Jack Johnson. How cool is that! Next week the team is going to stay with Heather and Bill and I’m looking forward to seeing Maddie. Maybe go for a bike ride.

Colavita/Cooking Light got a little more international this week. Melissa Holt has been added to the team. I’ve known Meshy (pronounced Me-She) and her boyfriend Jeff (pronounced Jeef) ever since they came to race in Lake Placid for the Cloudsplitter Classsic Stage Race. Anyone remember that race? Cool race but quite an effort to put on. Anyways, it’s great to have them here to race and teach us some Kiwi vernacular.

It’s a good thing I got out of bed that day. At the race I lent a pair of pedals to the Navigators mechanic, lent a helmet to a Colavita/Sutter Home rider who forgot his, and fixed a little girl’s bike which kept dropping its chain. I could’ve completed a perfect “hat trick” if I had a pair of shoes for a certain male pro rider whose race bag didn’t make it onto his team van. I won’t mention any names because that must be embarrassing.

Forgetting something became a source of anxiety for me when once as a junior racer I saw a guy in a parking lot before a race tear apart his car looking for his shoes. He forgot them at home! At that point the only thing he could do was walk around the parking lot asking if anyone had any shoes he could use. What a sucky thing to have to do before a race. Little did that stranger know the lesson he taught a young racer that day. From that day on I vowed to never forget my shoes, helmet, shorts, socks, jersey, wind vest, wind jacket, arm warmers, leg warmers, knee warmers, gloves, sunglasses (with extra lenses), chamois cream, race bottles, pre-race bottles, post-race bottles, pump, tools, license, money, safety pins, towel, water, food, drink powder, rain cape etc. When you think about it, my job is making sure I’m prepared with everything the team needs to race. I’m just working with a much bigger list now (bottom brackets, rear derailluers, 5mm bolts, 6mm bolts, brake housing, safety pins, towels, water, food, etc.) and 10 riders instead of just myself.

Like I said, I’m sure the people I helped at the race were glad I got out of bed that day. I’m glad that guy way back in 1985 forgot his shoes that day. You never know who you might impact in your life.

Here are some observations of mine about being a pro cyclist:
1. If you’ve traveled for 24 hours from New Zealand two days before a race you might be a pro cyclist.
2. If you race in the Montreal World Cup then rush to catch a plane, get picked up at midnight, go for a ride in the morning, and race the next day you might be a pro cyclist.
3. If you wear flesh colored compression hosiery with green shorts and one legging sort of sliding down mid-thigh at a Star Bucks in New Jersey you might be a pro cyclist.
4. If you go for a ride and happen to find yourself at George Washington’s house and get yelled at for riding on the bricks to read a historical marker you might be a professional bike team mechanic. God Bless America!

Cheers,
DJB