Nittany Classic is coming...

So it's been a while. This weekened the all knowing road race director and myself flyered the road race circuit, then did a quick lap via two wheels. I think after walking around for 2 hours my knee was ready for a rest, so the ride didn't go so well. Didn't go so well for Andy either as his back is still bugging him. Injuries suck.

Today we flyered the crit course. I get such a weird vibe from MOST of the people who came to the door and talked to me in Bellefonte. Semi-rude, semi-"why they hell are you closing my road"... but there were some nice people who wished us luck in the race.

I also did a quick Boalsburg loop, which felt great. I think not being on my feet for two hours before a ride is the key. Hopefully I can slowly... very slowly... ramp up some time on the bike.

So the Nittany Classic weekend is coming. Three events in two days. I'm excited to see the kid's race... I hope some kids show up! We are planning, in conjunction with some riders from CRBC whom know Dr. Kulakowski's family, to have a prime in his memory at our race. The idea was also put out there that we could have this prime in years to come, which I think would be a great thing to do. The money raised for it could go to the scholarship fund, and a small % to the rider winning it.

If you're around State College area this weekend and are bored, call me. I'll give you a corner to marshall.

Changing Mindset

Everything is what you make of it. I've come to the conclusion that I just need to wrap my mind around that fact. I know I need to stay positive about things, and the easiest way to do that is to change the thing you need to be positive about. In my mind I've written off this collegiate season as a loss, which is much better than hoping to race later on. I don't feel anxious to get better and ride soon. The thing I'm feeling positive about now is getting back to training sometime over the summer, doing a little bit of racing, and then finding a way to stick around and race ECCC next year. It's a lot easier to be positive about those goals, and it takes a lot of pressure off me. I don't think I realized how stressed out I was trying to get on the bike so I could get into some sort of shape for April ECCC races. Screw it. Collegiate races are fun, but they're not worth ruining a whole semester, especially some people's last semester. So here's to Rutgers, I'm going to rock that prologue.

Sike

This past weekend was the first ECCC race of the season at Rutgers University. It was my first time officiating, and it started out boring, and got a lot better as the weekend went along. I started off standing in the freezing cold doing the ITT, writing down numbers of people who passed. After not too long I swung my car around and sat in that instead. It was warmer. Mild entertainment came in the form of people who steered straight through the large line of cones, and did a much harder turn-around than necessary, and from the dude in Men's A who way overcooked the turn, went into the mud, and fell. Hilarious dude, thanks for making my morning. I later found out that two guys skipped the turn-around, and didn't bother to tell anyone... and had times minutes faster than other competitors. Needless to say they were DQed. I felt a bit better after hearing this, as I felt a bit more worthwhile.

The crit in the afternoon was more interesting. I wrote down numbers of people falling off the back, and those winning the prime sprints. It was a little confusing, especially with the Women's B and Men's D and C fields. It was cold and windy, and I was happy to get back to CT's housing hookup for the best post-race dinner put on by a host family ever.

The next day was the circut race and it was real easy to do. Not many lapped riders, or not many lapped riders who kept riding I should say. I just sat around wrote numbers again. I was much better at catching numbers and documenting the race than the first day.

I must say that officiating is not very fun. It was allright because I got paid $100 (which is going to purchase a Mavic Carbone btw). However I'd much rather be racing.

Which reminds me- went to see the surgeon today, and he said the swelling was a lot more than he though it should be... told me to ice it more, some other stretches, and to lay off riding over an hour for a while, like May. He mentioned that 80% of people who see results from my surgery will have seen it by this point. I wanted to ask him how many people really expected to benefit from my surgery, but I think I know what he means. Sucks. I don't think I'll be making it out to many more collegiate weekends now, I can't stand going and not racing, I'd rather pretend it's not going on and I'm not missing anything. Good luck guys/gals. I will still be doing the Philly weekend, however, as I need to pick up that Carbone from Stephan... wonder when I'll get to put it to use.