SEASON OPENER ...MEMORABLE

The 2009 MSC opener had some very ominous signs to say the least. Lets go over the time line:
FRIDAY
2:20pm-Me and Charlie E. sneek out early from work (Big boss riding horses in Houston or something).

2:45pm-Meet Chris Taylor at the Yeti Park & Ride to load up 3 bikes, gear, team Continental tires, Smartwool duds, Crank Bros. backorders and provisions. Off to Fruita! Snow never hurt anybody!

4:15pm-CSP's finest wave us off I-70 at Georgetown with somber options. Go back to Idaho Spring for a shelter being set up there or wait it out in Georgetown.

6:10pm-Crackberry e-mails with other COMOtion team members confirm that yeah, you're screwed! Doug D. headed back as instructed and (eventually made it back to Golden at 3am Saturday morning.) Hang out at the Visitor Center. They love travelers. Motels.....ha sold out at 3:00pm.
7:00pm- Lovely Chinese dinner within walking distance. Two employees, 37 hungry, pissed-off traveler. WHERE'S MY POTSTICKERS!!....an hour later we were served our meal. Very good (always good with a 68 glucose reading)


9:30pm- Potstickers arrived after the meal. Kelli E. shows up after learning from e-mails we were there. Stares at potstickers.......Can we have some hot tea please?


11:30pm- Bar drunks and solo waiter give us dirty looks wondering if we were going to apply for residency. Kelli's cousin (one of 6,000 in CO) rescues her from the night. There's only 7 in their motel room so far.

11:40pm-Back to the WELCOME CENTER...more brochure reading.

SATURDAY

12:00pm-WELCOME CENTER becomes the UN-WELCOME CENTER. CT is booted out while Charlie and I sip coffee at the gas station. Seems he fits the profile of a vagrant. He's called a liar by the brassy broad locking up when he explains that "the nice man at the center had told us earlier that they would be opened all night." Strong letter to follow.

1:00pm: Warm up the Silverado Hotel get ready for a cramped 5 hour on/off sleep cycle. Charlie is 6' 3" and settles in horizontally in the extended cab's rear seat....kinda. Knees bent. Chris and I lean the seats back 45 degrees and stare at the ceiling....kinda. Every half hour I crank up the engine (driving lights go on and blind poor souls trying to sleep in the Subaru in front of us. Sorry) get warm and shut it off.

6:00am: Gotta pee..off to the gas station and hot coffee. Other survivors are starting to stir and all have horror stories about car napping with puking dogs, wet babies and dead batteries. Maybe it wasn't that bad after all.

8:15am: Official word is we're still shut down but the west bound gates are up and a lot of the trucks have disappeared. We're finally off to Fruita. Time Trial starts at 10:00am. $40 donation to Darner's retirement.

12:00 Noon: Arrive in Grand Junkyard after white knuckle drive between Georgetown and Vail. Just wet through the canyon and sunshine greeted us at Rifle. That was fun....After checking in at the Super 8, a shower and lunch we headed over to Rabbit Valley to pick up number plates and honor the BLM with a $5 donation to straighten out the sand once we're through. Charlie and I salvage the day with a short ride from the Tabeguache trailhead south of town towards the Ribbon Trail. Dinner with COMOtion team and a couple of Breckenridge brews and we're out for the night. Real beds with a pillow!

Sunday

With an 8:00am Cross Country race start time we set the alarms and arranged a wake up call for 5:30am. Load em up, Continental breakfast and off to race.

Lucy keeps watch over the COMOtion pit in case unwelcome competitors want to use our tire pump.

The opener results started out just like the last season had ended. Last place. I knew I was not ready to compete but I didn't think a was going to suffer that much. The legs were there but the lungs and heart went in shut-down mode about a half mile from the finish and I seriously thought I was looking at my first DNF ever.

The cheers from the vulture crowd on the last climb surged me through 12 minutes behind ex-Team Evergreen teammate Steve Como's win.

Disaster number 3 for the weekend started on the way back with a melted transmission as we left the Colorado River valley. Nice way to finale.

Thanks to COMOtion teammate Chris Butler, we continued eastbound in his sweet ride and backed the team trailer in the driveway at 10:30pm. A weekend adventure for sure. Race turned out to be the small part. Above and beyond, Chis nursed the sick Chevy to Rifle Transmission and another teammate Ryan Schultz brought it back to the front range Friday. Do I have great teammates or what?

POP GOES THE WIESEL!!!

OK, Larry Green blew the big storm prediction again but I still had enough faith to plan a bachelor's weekend of basement bike work, Internet cruising, Turbo-tax, and wiener dog play. Factory screw just freaked me out.

For no good reason, my metallurgical and engineering education and background kicked in and I decided to do a major re-vamp of a Vaison Elite bike travel bike box I just purchase at The Pro's Closet http://www.theproscloset.com/Shop/Control/fp/SFV/32625 in Boulder. The guys there get first dibs on several of the world's fastest team's left over cycling equipment and clothing.

My bitch was that all the hardware (bolts) pointed inward and posed threats to the content. Some had become loose and generally did not meet my quality standards. Other than that, the case was perfect. Drill and pop rivet was the prescription.

The box is for an August trip planned with COMo Bro. Chris Taylor to Wales to attend the UK Yeti Tribe Meeting. More on that later.

Now I feel better. Domed aluminum rivet heads greet my carbon parts instead of a stupid loose, false cap over a menacing M2.5 bolt steel shank.

So that my bike case doesn't get mixed up with the dozens of other elephant sized bike bags, I've cleverly attached COMOtion and Yeti stickers so I can pick them out on the 87 RPM baggage claim carousel.

Ipod updated. Better go to the fitness club Sunday to burn off beer and pasta ingested from the boring day inside.