FIrst and Last Time I Swear!

Yesterday I drove 7 hours into upstate New York.  My Team and I will be racing the Tour of the Catskills, which begins today with a 20km Time Trial.  Despite the car being packed floor to ceiling I awoke this morning to the realization that my helmet and my shoes remain on the closet shelf back in Ottawa.

What followed was a complete systems crash.  My brain become scrambled eggs my legs like noodles and my heart dragged heavy on the floor like an anchor.  I didn't think a solution was possible, and I could not bring willpower into my body or my mind.  It's true the season is wearing hard mentally at this point.  It seems I have motivation enough as long as everything goes smooth.  Unfortunately when I come to a block I haven't the force of will to solve the problem.

Thank god for Michael DeKelver my team manager and directer sportif.  Without him I probably would have just wandered off into the woods and become some harry mountain man.  "There's always a solution," he says.  "You are ridding this race.  That's obligatory.  We can tape your feet to the pedals if we have to, it's been done before."  Right away Michael started on solutions, and eventually he had me coming around too.

Here is the solution.  After aggressively networking we found a man from Rochester, NY who will loan me a helmet for the weekend.  He found me through the twitter-verse, our world really is shrinking.  If you appreciate the kindness of a stranger please follow @k0demonkey and thank him on my behalf.  As for the shoes.  The good semaratin k0odemonkey has also offered his extra shoes, which are 1 1/2 sizes too big.  After some deliberation and a visit to the Local Bike shop to plead my sob story I have decided to purchase a second set of shoes.  This is justified as either rainy weather training shoes or resale.  I bought an entry level shoe in the same brand and size that I always wear.  Big thanks to Windham Mountain Outfitters for hooking up a deal on that.

I am once again equiped to race.  My Time Trial start time is at 6,54pm. My mind is still like mashed potatos and I will spend the rest of the day relaxing and getting my head screwed on straight.  My focus will be the two road races tomorrow and Sunday.  Each is over 150km long and includes several mountain passes.

pray for wings

Cuylar Conly