Will and I were expecting his race to start between 9:30 and 10am, so we left the house at 7:30. Will didn't race until 11. I raced at 1:30. It was a long day in the sun, and you know what? It was totally worth it.
First of all, let me just point out the emerging dominance of Team Hermutgers. The quasi-official alliance between the Highland Park Hermes and the Rutgers University Cycling Team has been pretty damn fruitful so far. Back in April, SpikyHairWill and AngryMark became Jenks' turn-coat lead out train, resulting in a decisive win at Picecone.
Today was a repeat of that, with Will and ProfessorAndy working for Jenks in his Cat3 race. You can read is report when he puts it up, but the point is that Jenks, a Hermes, rode a ballsy race with the help of Will, a Scarlet Knight.
Same basic story in the Cat4s. BenedictMark, festooned in his yellow-and-green summer plumage, took advantage of Rich and BeastMasterChris' teamwork to launch a great, looong sprint, catching a late breakaway thanks to Beastie's leadout. He took 4th in a very tough race. Hermutgers strikes again!
I was all by my lonesome in the 5 race. The tactics of my fellow 5s were somewhat frustrating. I got 3rd.
By themselves, each of these could be a decent story, if properly told. The point here is that bike racing isn't about the bike... or the racing.
It comes down to the people you're with. Screaming obscenities at Jenks when he's relaxing at the back of the pack, screaming at encouragement at BeastMaster when he's attacking (who saw that coming?), commiserating after races... it's a very social activity.
The standard insult to a fraternity guy is to say "I didn't need to pay for my friends." Funny how every day of racing cost an arm and a leg. Chew on that, my indie friends.
So we hang out, basking in the sun, for hours on end. We rip on each other. We gossip about other racers. We try to relax, and you know what? It is awesome. I couldn't ask for a better way to spend a weekend.
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