:: seanlangford ::

A good weekend visiting with family and friends. Lots of work done on Chris’s place and got to see John and Mandy. Mandy smashes timberman!!! Also went to a family reunion on Jen’s side. Lots of fun.

I like riding in the wet. For me its good mental strength training. I try and seek miserably cold and wet rides whenever possible. It makes me strong. I like the challenge. The sport of cycling has a component of suffering to it; I like and need to train that. Sadly my waterbottle cage broke and I kinked my chain so I had to cut it short at 70 miles. Thanks to SD, JM & B for setting the tempo up to Rocks Village. Afterwards cleaned out the basement with Jen which was long overdue.

So I hooked up with a ride from Lexington center tonight. Holy cow it was the fastest “ride” I’d ever been on. I knew I was in trouble feeling like one of the OLDEST of the group of 30+ guys who all looked like cat3 or better; many of these guys came out of Boston. There were BRC, Colavita, ECV, Verizon, Independant Fab, Gearworks, et al. Man it was a hectic ride; tons of corners, car traffic, attacking and just plain high sustained speed. Special thanks to CCB JA for noticing me fall off the back after a series of climbs and coming back to pace me in. What a great guy and strong rider. This was particularly appreciated as I had no idea where we were. Anyhow, great training! Will be back there again.

Did a quick early 40 miler to try and work out the soreness from yesterday. Caught up w/JF, RK & KH to finish out the ride and hear tales from the Tdf trip JF took. Great stories from the alps; too bad air italia messed up on the bike situation. Then headed over to chris’s and helped hang cabinets and helped paint his living room and dining room. House is staring to look awesome. Definately starting to feel like we’re climbing out of the demolition hole we dug earlier. I’m really proud of my brother’s laser focus and marathon determination to get his place setup. He is really onto something great and I can’t wait till he can enjoy the fruits of his labor.

Man, after hilltowns, and rolling a 1/2 nap I am done for the weekend.

Did the state road championship race (aka tour of the hilltowns today) (results). Tough race for me; tons of steep fast climbing. Evidently I need to work on my desending, climbing and flat riding. Although I improved over last year by 7 minutes (yahoo!). I think I could do alot better at this race if only I were faster. My goals for this race were to try and stay up front till the first climb ; take it at my own pace as I haven’t really been training for a climb like this; then try to reel in places and put a big effort on the final (more gradual) climb and not finish in last place. This plan worked out for me; I got over the first climb near the tail end but reeled in about 20 people on the final climb. Fun race great weather; fun racing. Long drive back; rinsed the dried salt crystals from my body; headed directly to a fun cookout celebrating jg’s 30th: Happy Birthday!! Lots of friends and family to catch up with some coming from far away. Great night for a party.

Had a blast tonight at Wampatuck. Interesting racing there. The roofing/rack team there is pretty dominant with around 15 guys. Last night they were actually racing tactfully which was pretty intereting. Stayed up front nearly the whole time, took a few flyers, made some allies and had some fun. Long trip back getting back late to Jen’s chagrin. Stopped to eat at the Boston Market at 9pm on Rte 1N in Saugus with the other fugatives. Finished Prehn’s Book; a good read. Off to bed.