First (Little) Race

Today was my first race. It was short (distance) and sweet (pain). You go as hard as you can and afterwards think, "Ah that wasn't so bad" as if you have immediately forgotten how your legs had been burning hot with pain for 5 minutes.

I'm not sure how I placed, but it was a good way to get the feet wet. I won't be racing tomorrow (something to do with license problems) but I will be racing Sunday under the same false name I used today.

Here are a few ways to know you're racing in Spain:

> 3 hours before the race, you are driving along the Mediterranean through beautiful resort towns, probably with beachside bars and the like. (Could we just pull over for a bit?) Your director is pointing out houses that are well-known in the porn industry.

> 2 hours before the race. You still don't know where the race is, what time you start, where your new team clothing is, or where a bathroom is.

> 1 hour before the race. You're drinking a coke, sitting watching your director each lunch as he talks with other directors, and you have no idea what's going on. One of them is showing his cyclist a porn video he has saved on his cellphone, laughing that the guy in it was last year's champion of Spain for cycling.

> 40 minutes before the race. New team kit has white shorts; leaves nothing to the imagination.

> 30 minutes before the race. Oh wait, just found out the race isn't for another 1.5 hrs.

> 30 minutes before the race, you find yourself asking strangers "Donde hay una carrera ciclista? Sabes?" Yeah, you got lost during the warmup.

> 20 minutes to go. You've found everybody.

> 1 minutes to go. The loudspeaker announces you to the start line under a false name.

Sorry for no pics. Also, new feature: I have posted my training log as a link on the right hand side. If you're really bored.... check it out.