I had packed my race bag the night before and Roark took it to work with him that morning with the plan that I would ride the cursed quintana downtown and meet up before the race, race and then drive home together in one car (whoo hoo -- Go Green!)
I left about around 6p thinking I had plenty of time to ride 10 miles. I even got to work in less than 23 minutes (faster than when I take my darn car!!). Just as I passed the old Cleveland Agora and hit E. 30th I saw a woman on the side of the road working on her bike. I stopped and asked if she was ok. She had a flat and I decided to stay and help fix it. We got her up and running and I high tailed it down to the Winking Lizard with little less than 30 minutes to spare. I wasn't really worried as my bike was my warm-up, but Roark really didn't get any picking up packets and running around trying to find me (he beat me anyway).
We were racing under the name "Team Spin Hub" as he works for a local competitor bike shop and I of course race for "The Bicycle Hub." We found EP, DM and BK for some pre-race argyle photos and laughs.
We ended up starting so far back we had walkers in front of us -- whoops. I ran over to the right and hopped up on the sidewalk to avoid the pedestrian crowds and give myself a nice open route. Apparently, Roark and DM liked my plan as they were hot on my heels for the first 1/4 mile or so, until the road opened up at which point they ditched me.
As we turned left and made our way up the Detroit bridge, we could see the leaders coming back just as we were reaching the peak of the bridge. I could still see the guys just up ahead and at the turn-around Roark had gapped DM, just a few yards. I ran around the cone, relieved mile 1 was over. I pushed up the bridge, trying to gain ground as I figured this would be where most people would be trying to conserve energy. My quads were on fire, but no guts no glory, so I kept pushing.
DM had started to come back to me and I was trying to focus on catching him. We saw EP and baby and she yelled words of encouragement as we waved back at her. DM yelled to me "I lost him (in regards to Roark who had taken off). It's all about the beer now." I agreed and kept trying to close the gap.
We made the turn off the bridge and fought up the last incline with what looked to be a 10-year old girl right next to us. Her coach or father kept screaming from behind us "Go Now! Pick it up! Go Now!" REPETATIVELY! It was a little over the top. Thankfully, we pulled away from her and headed for the finish. DM just got me going 14:58. I had 15:04 on my Garmin for 2.05 miles. Roark went 14:00.
None of us felt we had great races. I even bent over at the finish line spitting, waiting for that feeling of nausea to go away or make me vomit (it went away). We grabbed some water and I headed back out to meet up with EP to see if her and the bun in the oven wanted some water. Since it was her first race preggers, she got a big ole "Preggers PR!" Apparently, the little guy kept kicking her every time she tried to run -- hehe.
We finished up and enjoyed the post race burgers and the music of my favorite local band the Spazzmatics before heading home to prep for possibly a second day of racing!
