New Jersey and the ING Capitol Criterium

Sorry for the delay, but it's better late than never right? I mean that seemed to be theme with my travel. Despite that, I still managed to get to New Jersey, just as I've managed to finally get this done.

I got to NJ, the Garden State, and ticked off my 27th state so far in my journey. I also made my first trip to true Atlantic Ocean (not including inlets). Below is a photo of me by the beach.

But the trip wasn't all just hanging out the beach working on my tan, or lack there of. I started off by visiting the hospital which I did find very impressive. I was taken through Tammy, a walk through display of the human body. Tammy was the girl I was inside... hmm, it's not as dodgy as some may think it sounds though. Inside Tammy is a whole lot of displays showing how different parts of the body work.

Also in the hospital was the gym. The gym was equipped with a whole range of stuff, including an underwater treadmill to help with rehab. I should have taken my toggs (or for Americans, my bathing suit/swim wear/whatever it is you call toggs). Also in the gym was a room full of spin bikes, where for the first time I lead a spin class. Below is a photo of me with a whole lot of the people who joined me for my class.

I spent the rest of the afternoon visiting a few clinics before being shown the beach and heading back to my hotel. The next day started off with a training ride out to Hook Point, from where I could just look across the water to the high rises of New York. Unfortunately it was a little to far to ride to, maybe next time. We then went out for lunch, where I talked a bit about the team and my own riding. Below is a photo of with the Sanofi reps, showing off our cool Apidra stuff, including a picture of none other than the December pin up boy.

After lunch I visited a few more clinics before heading back to the hotel to try to figure out how I was going to get myself down to DC for my race that weekend. I thought it would be a good idea to take a train, but apparently the Amtrak train wouldn't allow me to take a bike, unless I took the 3.30am train. Like that was going to happen. After a lot of searching and fussing, and getting confused about the difference between Newark Penn Station and New York Penn Station, I finally got a trip sorted. I would take the shuttle down to the local train station, take the train to Newark, get on a bus that would drive to New York, have a 2 hour layover where I could see a little of the city, then drive down to DC. Turns out the bus was driving to the next station on the train route, so I didn't even need to get off at Newark. But I did anyway, and managed to get on a bus that went straight to DC. Unfortunately I didn't get to see NY, but they'll be another chance. I did however, get to drive through and tick Delaware of the list. Sweet.

I did eventually reach DC safely and was taken to my hotel. I was hoping to see my darling Ariel, and to my delight found i could see her bus stop where she lived from my hotel window. Unfortunately she was facing the other way. Below is the view from the hotel.

Two days later was the ING Capitol Criterium. I was a bit worried about the race in that I hadn't raced in a while, and hadn't done any speed work except for the last few days. I also didn't have any race wheels, and although I asked very nicely at the pit, I didn't manage to scab any. I felt pretty comfortable on the course, as all the turns were a few lanes wide. The only problem was the hairpin before the final straight. I was sitting in Ok for most of the race, but drifted to the back at one point. So I decided to try to move up. This resulted in me clipping my pedal on the U turn and nearly coming off. After a quick re alignment, a cheer from the crowd and sigh of relief, I began to try to close up the gap that had just been created. Only the pace lifted, and I was only able to lift my pace enough to match that pace, not close the gap down. I lasted 40 min, and was quite disappointed. But still, it could have been much worse. Below are some photos from the race.

Emile rode pretty well to finish 5th. After I dropped out, Dan crashed on the last lap, and Shawn was caught behind that crash, he was the only TT1 rider to be recorded finishing. Disappointing since Shawn and Dan could have both had respectable placings.

Me standing on the 2nd corner of the course.

Me going around the first corner sometime during the race. I think that might be Shawn hidden behind me, but who knows.