UCI3

Three days of racing October 8-10 in Cincinnati nearly killed me.

Friday, pulled with two to go. I was a complete wreck, dehydrated and tired. 46/52, pathetic.
Saturday, came out with a 59/79, still pretty rotten, but I felt good.
Sunday, a repeat of Saturday's performance. 55/78, serviceable.

The bruises on my legs I earned from a spill on Sunday's Harbin Park race have finally faded, though I'm still just tired all around.

The UCI3 weekend is a yearly celebration of lactic acid. I've raced Harbin every year since 2005, except 2006 when I was recovering from a broken wrist and in graduate school. Every year, I've seen some good friends and former teammates from the Campus Cyclery crew; every year, I hack up a lung full of dust. Cincinnati had not had significant rain in months and it showed in rutted, dusty racecourses that blistered hands.

Big props to the dedicated Chris Jensen who flew to Cincinnati after a business trip to NOLA, rode back with Allison and I, and filled our car full of gas, too. He's a generous man.

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I had a better result at Hopkins Park, the race that my team Half Acre Cycling, throws in DeKalb, IL. I raced on a borrowed Ridley way too small for me and with a non-working front brake and got 32 out of 64 racers. I can roll with that.