The Cherry Blossoms Have Fallen

Well the Cherry Blossom Cycling Classic has come to a close. As usual, there is a fine bit of reporting over at Oregon Cycling Action, detailing the final criterium. After we got our call-ups at the start line, Bevin told me "there's only one guy I can't let get a lap up," meaning me. He pretty much stuck to me like glue, but that was to be expected -- any other racer would have needed to lap the field multiple times to take the jersey from him.

OK, picture time:

Joe Holmes, team director extraordinaire.

Kennett, team mate extraordinaire. 

Mt. Hood, mountain extraordinaire. 

Mike Hone, opponent extraordinaire (and nearly the winner of yesterday's crit! Close one Mikey!)

TT podium, GO JAMIE!

 

GC podium, GO LANG!

Good grief, I'm such an attention hound! Look at me go -- on and on and on. Will I ever shut up?! 

But then the stage race is over. You pack your bags, load your van, grab a shower (if you're lucky), and eat some food. Then it's a long drive back to Seattle. Your legs hurt the whole way. You arrive too tired to put everything away; you just rip it all out of the car and make a pile on the garage floor. Your mantra:  I'll deal with that tomorrow. And then you sleep.

Yet no matter how late you sleep in, it's not late enough. Your legs ache when you awake -- you regret not rubbing them down before last night, but that was one of the things you said you'd "deal with tomorrow." You move slowly, trying to unpack your life: several weeks on the road has left you with three totally disorganized dufflebags (mostly) filled with dirty spandex. Sorting takes forever. Laundry. Wash a load of water bottles in the dishwasher -- taking care when opening some of the riper ones (drink mix ferments quickly and powerfully). Clean a bike (or two). Clean the van. Clean the cooler. 

Massage your legs. 

Take a nap. 

Then it's time to plan your next chunk of time. Nine days in Seattle. Time for recovery, and then a decent block of training before the next big race. Time for a little work (so my bills keep getting paid), a little time at the gym (so my abs don't whither away), and a lot of good food. 

You're pretty sure these restful periods between the races are the key to the races.