Beer, Bikes, and Snow

Tis' the season...for colds.  I somehow always manage to get sick this same time every year.  This year was no different. Friday morning I woke up full-on congested and I was starting to worry how my cold would impact my double-race weekend.  I came home from school, went right to the couch, loaded up on decongestion meds, tea, and sleep. Saturday I woke up feeling blah. I figured that I could assess how I felt during the pre-ride/warm-up.  I felt ok, my nose cleared up enough to breathe and my legs felt ok.  I got ready for the call-ups and anxious to go. I had first call-up...and my pick of where I wanted to start.  The prologue was similar to last year - short road then grass with few turns into the course.  I wanted to nail the start...and I did.  I had the whole shot! photos by Mandi Pearl  I had a great two laps, going back and forth in 4th and 5th place with the usual suspects. Going into the last lap, I started to...

Last Saturday Lance and I both headed out to Bethlehem, PA for the Town Hall CX race.  I wanted to try a few new races this year, including some of the PACX races.  We had never done this race but heard that the venue had a lot of climbing. We arrived early and met up with some friends.  We all looked up the hill...the "St. Luke's Staircase".  I thought to myself, "what was I thinking?".  I was hoping that my climbing legs wouldn't fail me today. I did two pre-race warm up laps, inspecting the course for lines I might want to take (or avoid).  The climb was going to be interesting - it was still wet with dew, making traction difficult.  My plan was to ride the entire climb, but also be prepared to run it if there was a jam up. Lance's race went off at 9...mine was at 10.  So I warmed up on the trainer set near our car and watched his race.  The field was about 100 men and Lance had a great race.  He finished 3rd - his best finish y...