The Dirt Field

As a result of the Talent ID camp, I have been selected by USA Cycling to race on the Aspen Valley Hospital Composite Team at the Blue Ribbon Alpine Challenge crit in Aspen, CO on August 22nd. The Aspen race was originally supposed to be a three-day stage race in conjunction with the men’s US Pro Cycling Challenge, but lack of funding forced the promoters to cut the race down to a one-day crit that runs on the same finishing circuit the men will use coming into Aspen at the end of that day’s stage. I knew going into the camp that a short-term result of successful performance would be selection for a composite team for the Aspen race, but when the announcement came that it was no longer a stage race, I assumed that the composite team would no longer happen. It came as a pleasant surprise to get an email the Monday following the camp inviting me to race for the team. I say ‘pleasant surprise’ like it was a nice and calm moment, but in reality I squeaked liked a startled parakeet and instantly replied something along the lines of HELL YEAH SO TOTALLY THERE.

What I lack in dignity, I make up for in enthusiasm.

I’m flying to Aspen this Friday (and yes, I selected flights that run through Denver specifically so I could get a Wolfgang Puck barbecue chicken pizza or seven), riding in the Susan G. Komen charity ride for the sponsor on Saturday morning, bumming around Aspen for a few days, attending the racer meeting and dinner on the Tuesday night before the race, and racing on the afternoon of the 22nd. There’s also a dinner/after party following the race where I will try very hard to not ask anybody famous to autograph my butt. See above re: dignity vs. enthusiasm.

Then I fly home on the morning of the 23rd at a time so painfully early it’s not suitable for printing. My layover in Denver that time is only 45 minutes long (and it’s before 9am), but I’m still set on filling an entire overhead compartment of the plane with these pizzas. If I tape a stack of steaming boxes together, I’m pretty sure it qualifies as a TSA-sanctioned ‘personal item’.

After I get home from Aspen, it’s back to work for Friday and then a quick trip up to New York on Saturday for the NCC Chris Thater Crit. If all goes as planned, that may be my last race of the season. While it feels like this season has been short and I could keep going for a while longer, the other races I’d like to do are far enough out of town that they’re not quite worth the expense when I’m already trying to save and plan for next year. It’s difficult to work all year to reach peak fitness and then call it a season, but better that than doing the slow downward spiral that comes from trying to squeeze more races out of a body that is obviously overcooked.

So that’s about it. Ten more days, two races, and then I guess we’ll see. Might be time to launch the 2012 Mid-Atlantic Group Ride Tour, in which I hit up local group rides, ride with reckless abandon, and beat myself into exhaustion in preparation for the month of hibernation the precedes winter training. After all, something has to mitigate the physical impact of the 2012 Great Denver Airport Pizza Tour.