Hines Report

What a great day for a TT. The race of truth. Man against clock.

We loaded the entire family into the mondo Expedition and drove out to Nankin Mills on Hines Dr. before the sun rose. We caffeinated at Starbucks as usual. It was a little rugged because I just couldn't sleep last night. I don't know of I drank too much coffee the day before or what but I just couldn't shut my brain off.

Check out this pic Maria snapped as the sun was coming up.

We did the usual thing with registration and warm up. James got off around 8am and just smoked the course riding a 32:38! Were hoping for a 34-ish time or better so you could imagine how geeked we were with this outcome. His team mate Alexey also smoked the course turning in a 32:06. These kids are really getting fast and where they will end up is anyone's guess. They also did the TTT and did well. Check out Bikeboy's post for details.

I rode a 27:14 and was very pleased. I was the first cat 3 out of the gate so I had to wait to see if my time would hold up. I thought Scott Kroske would challenge me and this fellow from the Maple Leafs Vince Francescutti. Scott is super strong and has been in the top ten all year. Vince was in that long break with me at Maillot Juane so I was familiar with how strong he was.

Scott was involved in the cat 3 crash at BTR yesterday so he was kind of out of it today. He rode strong but not like he would have if yesterday's crash wasn't a factor. Vince was right on my heels at 27:38. My time held and I won the cat 3 race.

I did the TTT with John Burrows. We ablsolutely smoked the first half of the course doing almost thirty mph the whole way. The second half was into a headwind and we slowed considerably. We still managed a 27:38 which was good enough for second place and $35! Take half of that and add it to my first place winnings, ($50), and I took home around $70. Wow! Pretty soon I'll be able to quit my job.