Out Like a Lion

The road race on Saturday was called out like a lion, but I think this weekend should have just been referred to as WTF?? weekend. Everything that could have gone wrong did (well almost everything), everything that couldn't go wrong also still did, and somehow what should have gone completely wrong didn't. Hmm... Well let's start from the beginning.

Things started to not look to good for the weekend last Monday night, when I woke up feeling a little queasy. I went to the bathroom, where I realised I wasn't just a little queasy, but down right sick. I then spent the majority of the remaining evening with my head above the toilet regurgitating what ever it was I shouldn't have eaten. I then spent a few days without riding, and by the time Friday came along I found myself really struggling to keep up with anyone on the bike. Having been sick, my blood sugars did there usual reaction and just went crazy.

We headed down to NC on Saturday, and things weren't looking like improving. I had an occlusion and 400 mg/dl (22.2 mmol/L) blood sugar. hmm, not a good start. I then had to clamber into the back of the tank to get my new pod, bolus, and before you know it I was back in range for the first time in a week.

After getting my BG's down, and nearing lunch time, we went to reach for some lunch we had packed. This enlightened us to our next problem, we left cooler behind. Bugger. Well, that had most our food for the weekend in it, bugger.

Me rummaging round the back of the tank for a pod while we cruise down the highway.

This trip did mean me reaching my 31st State, and first new one for 2009; North Carolina.

After stocking up with some 'race' food at the gas station where we filled up we were back on the road hopping that the worst was behind us. A little way down the road we get a message from Shelia the Slapper (our Garmin GPS) saying, "20min of battery remaining". We then checked the power adapter and realise that it was hanging by a thread and not really working. After frantically writing down the turn by turn directions (which we were really hoping we wouldn't need), we then began a repair job. Sticking a metal object in the cigarette lighter didn't work, it just sprayed sparks out. Even for Simon when tried it the 2nd time for some reason!?! However What did work was a little electrical tape. I think a warranty may be required for this job.

We did have some technical difficulties on the way down, but thanks to a little ingenuity with electrical tape we were away laughing again.

It was a good thing we got Shelia working, cause the roads around here were confusing. 3 lanes and 3 stop signs at a T intersection, hmm. We also had to turn down Random Rd, which was a real road, not just the Slapper not knowing where we were.

We did eventually get down to the race, early even, and set up for the race. One thing (of many) I hate about racing after being sick is guessing my insulin requirements. The last week I had been running with 40% more than usual, and still running high. This should mean that I should stay on that much more except with a racing rate right? Well, I had been feeling a lot better and BG's were coming down, so would it be too much? Dilemma. I ran pretty close to what I normally would and decided to see if it was enough.

The race didn't really go well for any of us. Simon was the only one of us 3 to actually finish the race, that's never good. I just felt empty, and halfway through the race couldn't even hang onto the back of the group. Goodnight. I then crawled back to the van, feeling absolutely rubbish, to test my blood. I was expecting some 3 or 400 ridiculous blood, but to my utter amazement it read 99! I couldn't believe it, 99! Not 100 or 98, but a perfect 99. I think it was about the only time I've ever been pissed off that I was 99. Just sums up the WTF theme of the weekend. Matt also exited his race early, and Simon came in a little after the bunch.

Our only finisher for the day.

WTF? The 'worst' 99 I've ever had, if such a thing exists.

The next day was a crit, and although I felt a million times better than the day before, crits have never been my forte. So much so that our sponsors wanted my bio to say, "Tim's goal is to ride a crit..." We'll I've already achieved that goal twice this year, and although I still wasn't feeling good, I made it through this one as well. I managed to get pretty well positioned for a lot of the race (not all), but when the winning moves went I just didn't have the legs. I did get in front of the massive crash though, in which Simon was caught up, but didn't go down (apparently there is a video of this, hopefully I can get it soon). They then let the 20 odd riders back in between the break and field, effectively closing the gap.

The trip home we were finally looking for some peace at the end of a crazy weekend. We had a quick dinner stop at the Olive Garden, which I had been wanting to visit for a long time, ie since I got to the US. Not due to the reputation for fine food, but rather the funny adds and tv/movie references, "Olive Garden, When you're here, you're family".

After that we just cruised home without any problems, except when our slapper went spastic on us. While still on the highway she tried to tell us to turn left, and kept recalculating. Below is her showing we are off the road.

It wasn't the most successful weekend, but certainly an eventful one. One to bigger and better things.