Like Belgium, Only Different

It's great being home. It seems like the kid is moving around in Shiri's belly all the time, ready to burst on the scene. My laundry dries in six hours instead of two days. I know the guys on the farm would be jealous. I'm watching our friends' dog, who is pretty amazing. And I even ride my bike.

Meeshka

Last night I did my first race since I'm back. I'm a little hesitant to call it a race because it was a time trial. That's not quite racing but it is a necessary discipline in cycling. I'm not all that great at it either. I did it without any aero equipment; I just went out with my regular road bike. I was surprised how a bunch of people came out on full time trial bikes with expensive wheels and helmets for a Wednesday night small potatoes event. I guess it makes sense to shake down your gear before the real thing. I should also mentioned that it was a really wet evening. It was only slightly warmer than Belgium.

The first two miles out of seven were pure torture. My legs felt like they were going to cramp everywhere and I couldn't get my heart rate up. My plan was to go harder the second half and negative split the race, which I did but it seemed like my body was a bit tired. I'm not too surprised. My legs started to come around a bit towards the end but it still didn't feel great. I certainly felt better in Belgium.

I caught the rider thirty seconds in front of me at 1.2 miles. I was then caught by the rider one minute behind me at 4.2 miles. He got second. I ended up getting seventh overall, which I guess is ok considering if I had all the time trial gear it could have saved me some time and I could have moved up a couple of places. But it's just a Wednesday night time trial.