having attended both races this weekend (Running of the Dogs as a soigneur, the Ten Dollar Duathlon as an untrained competitor) with absolutely zero ambition, i made it a point to learn as much as possible. the following is a list of lessons i compiled over the course of the weekend.
Running of the Dogs
- gritty mud will destroy disc brake pads, says dave
- ramming into a tree is not an acceptable alternative to braking, says mike's hip
- knee warmers would be good things when racing in sub-freezing rain/sleet, say alessandro and ted
- "sexy cream", aka warming lotion, is a misnomer and should be used sparingly, lest an uncomfortable, unsexy burning sensation afflict the user, says (nay, screams) ted
- mud breaks bike components and sleet breaks spirits, say the majority of saturday's racers
- anyone who finished the race (Charlie, Alessandro, Dave, Mark, and Alicia) is awesome and deserves congratulations
- anyone who started the race is a brave fool and deserves a combination of congratulations and pity
- anyone who spectated the race is just plain stupid
- i am NEVER soigneuring again unless it's 60+ and sunny, says don, emphatically
Ten Dollar Duathlon
- starting 2 minutes after everyone else because you slept in takes a lot of pressure off
- running is fun when you have a cross bike on your shoulder
- running is not as fun when you've run twice so far this year (but it's still pretty damn fun)
- there's a reason triathletes practice their transitions
- losing time to help another racer fix a flat in transition is totally worth it
- losing time because you made a wrong turn is just plain embarrassing (thanks for the save, heather!)
- it's really hard to not draft when every training ride and race has been crit or crit-oriented... you just latch on without even thinking
- running 2 miles is an improper post-TT cooldown
- heather can sprint! she chased down some other girl over the run and took her in the last 10m with a killer kick
- a chamois is great for riding, but is, um, sub-optimal for running
- our jerseys look pretty freakin awesome
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