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For the Tool this was a day like any other day. Except this is the biggest race of my career. Jason and I were ready. We were going to the BBQ, the big dance. Except we did not know they had flame flowers and the meat of the day was The Tool and Jason.
I have done a few races in my career, but as this one went...it had to rate in the top 5 for being the hardest race I have ever done. After the adventure was over I told myself, “you are done as a bike racer”. But within an hour I was a bike racer again.
This race was FAST FROM THE GUN! The attacks were everywhere. Jason and I, being the smallest guys in the group at over 400 lbs with our bike, no doubt in my mind who the best draft was. As we found out in a hurry, when the boys started to attack, we were always one step behind. We clawed for the wheels in front of us, but sometimes it took a kilometer to get back on them. With the heavy winds, this made the race more difficult.
The field started to dwindle down and as I looked around at one point...it was the who's who of mens Paralympic tandem racing. All the players were there. I told Jason, “This is it, this is the race, we are in it.”
For the first time racing against the Europeans and some Canadians, we did not fare as well as we wanted to but on this day Jason and I gave it our all. In the future if we were to race an event like this again, it would be very helpful to do races with this caliber of bike racers for future success.
Even though we were 11th, Jason and I were happy with where we finished with this group. For after the race, the two of us were totally spent. Besides, the meat of the day was the Tool and Jason. At one point in the race, toward the end, my sidekick Jason asked me, “2 laps to go?”. I said, “three”. The pedals got heavy for about three strokes. I grabbed a water bottle from the feedzone to try to put the fire out and we road on...at a very fast and hard pace for what we could do at this point in the race.
Tomorrow is the time trial. I hope they have another type of meat on the grill... for Jason and I have already been cooked. Hopefully they will have chicken. For I must say, for 2 hours and 30 minutes, I was definitely in the hurt locker! That’s it for now from this Rusty Tool.
Gotta go.
Glenn
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