...And Then Reality Sets In

The internet is crazy. It allows such a multi-dimensional platform for analyzing an event. Let's

So the US Pro TT didn't go quite how I'd hoped. Here are some results (Even though there were only 34 starters, I'd still recommend starting from the bottom of the page). Here's a brief summary, in Gchat form:

me:  holy shit

bottom 5

wasn't expecting that

 Lang:  howd it feel out there?

 me:  hot

and slow

It's like the last two weeks of narrow victories over regional fields were just to puff up my pride a bit....

...so that I could be all-the-more effectively reminded where I actually sit in the big scheme of things.

To be fair, I had a pretty bad race, and I didn't feel anywhere near as good as I did the previous two weeks, but still -- there's nothing like losing over four minutes in a time trial to make a man look at the heavens and wonder "how on earth do those monsters go so fast?!" I remember the first time I lost 4+ minutes in a TT, and the feeling hasn't changed much.

Here's a way to visualize what I did:

Aaand here's a way to visualize HOW I did:

I've analyzed the results, and concluded that riders with last names that end in a "Z" go really really fast (i.e. Zabriski and Zirbel). Therefore, my caveman alter-ego Krogg has decided to undergo a little name change. I'll let him tell you about it:

So Krogg no go fast at Pro Nats. This make Krogg wear sour frown all van ride home. Teammates prod Krogg: "Why you no talk Krogg? Why you no say asinine things like normal van ride home?"  Well Krogg tell you why: KROGG WANT GO FASTER! Krogg look at first place caveman -- Zabriskie. Krogg look at second place caveman -- Zirbel. That settle it. Z's go faster! Krogg come up with elegant solution to complicated problem: change name to Zrogg! That right! From now on, Zrogg have blazing, ungodly fast TT! Zrogg can't miss podium!!! (Unless Scott Zwizanski get better, in which case Zrogg might place fourth, which still ain't bad.) Zrogg test theory at next time trial. Until then.....


OK I'LL STOP. I'm not actually that bummed. It would have been great to have a better ride, but honestly, Monday's race is what it's all about -- and in that I think I can be pretty helpful over Paris Mountain. To quote my team director, the ever-clever Tad Hamilton "It's just a bike race!"