Cold in Long Island

Wow, what a difference a week makes! Last week was 67 degrees on Saturday, and muddy as hell. In New York, we were greeted by sub-freezing temps, but at least it was dry...

We started with a whole new bike-unrelated adventure, namely getting from New Jersey to Long Island! We were "just driving along" on the interstate through Staten Island, and a sign says "get the hell off the highway." Or, maybe it said "all trucks over 12'2" MUST exit here." Since we're 13'0" we got off.

INTO THE MIDDLE OF BROOKLYN!!

No other instructions, just "don't take the highway." We start slaloming between double-parked UPS trucks and tourist busses, and eventually made it back to the freeway without running out of gas. It was mayhem. Sarah Kerlin was following us in her rental car, and cracking up at our absurd situation. Then she'd freak out if I made a light and she didn't. Like it's hard to lose a 40-ft trailer in Brooklyn. Yup, that was fun.

So we made it out to Long Island, posted up at an RV Park for the week, and then headed out to the race venue. Because the races were both Cat 1, and the finals of the new NACT series, all the major players were there. But it was also out in the middle of nowhere, and damn cold, so there weren't so many others there besides us racers.

Also, the big news of the weekend was the un-retirement of Lynn Bessette, followed by her prompt re-retirement. She showed up, had been training a bit for the race, and placed second both days. Studly.

I had a great race on Saturday, ending up about 10 feet behind 2nd place. But I was one step off the podium, ending up in 4th. Still, I was able to battle for the whole race and gave it my best. I ended up riding a few levels higher than my usual effort. At the start it was 34 degrees, and 32 degrees by the finish. And it was blowing about 30mph. Damn cold, for sure.

The next day I paid for those efforts, and my legs really refused to push very hard. I ended up 6th, and I'm pretty content with that since I could easily have been 36th. I just rode my own pace the whole day and played it steady, it worked out pretty well.

JoJo caught a cold over the past week, and stayed inside and warm for the weekend.