Thursday, April 8, 2010

Marysville

So on the Tuesday before the Marysville relay, I saw a neurologist and he said that I'd be fine to ride, just as long as I didn't do anything too risky and get another concussion. I've ridden 8 times since last Wednesday and it's really nice to be riding again. That Thursday, my dad called me and said that Erik at the Bicycle Shop was looking for a 4th person so that they could have a second team in the relay. So I've been lucky enough to get back on the bike a lot earlier than I thought, and I've also been lucky to find a team for last weekend. Marysville is such a fun event that it doesn't matter who has stacked teams, who has the most handicapped points, or even who wins at the end of the day. All people seem to care about is seeing all the people that they race with, having a good time, and some short and hard efforts on the bike.
With two of our riders not being able to ride because of injuries (yes, we had two ski accidents on the MBR team), we needed to find two replacement riders. We ended up with Anthony DiNallo and Bob Radzwich. Both were very competitive, triathletes, and singlespeeders. So that team did really well and MBR ended up getting 2nd place for the second time in a row. I really want to win that trophy next year, but our handicaps are slowly going away each year.
The relay was able to tell me a few things. First, 25 sessions on the rollers can really come in handy. It was the first time I actually trained during the winter, and thankfully it carried me through 3 weeks of no exercise. Indoor riding is boring but nothing gets you more ready for spring races. Second, I was able to see that my ribs held up to a hard effort and that I'll be able to race expert for Fair Hill and Tour de Tykes.