Sippin' on the "40"

Thurs: Drove long. Rode easy. Christened the new wheel on the Ojibiwa trail. Learned that a rigid fork is mother nature's way of teaching you how to ride. Afterwards we consumed mass quantities at Metropolitan in true northwoods style. I rediscovered the "Bartini."

Fri: Woke up with a tight helmet, and spent the morning recovering. Evidently I forgot to stop before the last drink. Spent the rest of the picking the right gear and getting El Mariachi* ready.

Sat: The 40. Bubba led me safely out of town , and I led him from there. As extra incentive, I stuck a turkey leg in my jersey pocket... he had no problem keeping up. The road was non stop getting passed by riders whose bodies would be littering the course in about 20 miles. We hit Rosie's field, and the real race began. Somehow the big guy slipped by just after the first feed stop. I spent a good ten minutes thinking he was back down there eating donuts before Rambi and Big Mark showed up to let me know I was wrong. After that, I opened up the green machine to see what it would do... and it was fun. Like the man said, "Steel is Real." Sometime after OO, I caught back up to Bubba. I did my best to keep up, but he was putting the hurt on me.

On top of fire tower hill I stopped to pop a cold one and catch up with the locals, then I was back on with the Bubster. The birkie trails were the usual non-stop sufferfest. I don't know how is possible for rollers to keep going up. At the food stop past the birkie trails, John Boo-ran was pondering his destroyed derailleur. Who brings no tools on a 40 mile mountain bike race? Feel free to ridicule him for this. After determining that we could not salvage the situation, I was back on the catch the big man. The last few miles of dirt road were a constant stream of passing riders... on your left, on your right, on your left.

All to no avail... I had my ass properly handed to me by over a minute by this guy. At least the showers were hot, and the beer was flowing at the Hayes Condo.

Sun: Lick the wounds and go home.





Be sure to pour one on the ground for Caesar Evil, who was taken out early in the race by enemies out to foil his evil plans. At least he got an excuse to take painkillers.

* El Mariachi is Spanish for The Mariachi.