Rode by a mountain that throws up water last night! (Taken with instagram)
I drank coffee. Quality of life increased by approximately infinity today as well. Sometimes you just gotta give up. And I gave up giving up coffee. BOOYAH!
First off, I think Hammer Nutrition is full of shit. Pretty sure it doesn’t take 30 hours for caffeine to leave your body.
I’m writing this in the morning because I believe/hope that will be the toughest part of this whole no-coffee deal.
So far, the strangest and most unexpected reaction occurred about 20 minutes after waking up. My kidneys felt tight and started hurting. I thought I was doing you guys a favor by giving you a break!
I pictured this event like a 2-year-old when you don’t give him toys. The little monster gets super bored because he can’t do his job. He starts screaming and yelling because you didn’t give him the tools to keep him busy like usual. I am picturing my nephew, Merritt, right now.
I just read a post from Hammer Nutrition, and I kind of trust those guys. Not completely. But, definitely kind of. They are, after all, the makers of the only nutrition my stomach can handle during races.
The post says they regularly recommend going five days without caffeine before races. Equally as scary, they say it probably takes 30 hours for caffeine to completely leave the body. I don’t think I’ve gone 30 hours without coffee in seven years.
So, here we go. I might shoot even higher and go for five coffee-less days + plus keep my family + keep my friends. That would be a feat.
P.S. I’m writing this while sitting in Thomas Hammer Coffee Roasters.
We rolled out of Pullman at 3 p.m. on Friday, approximately one hour after finishing my most problematic week of the year- not to sound emo or anything! But, we actually made it out of the parking lot, which seemed like a miracle.
We made it almost to Spokane when the van started going “Bumdy bumdy bumdy. Da da da da.” As Easley kept driving, everyone started yelling, “Pull over the van. Easley, Easleyyy!”
Easley pulled the van over, and if he would have driven 10 more feet, the entire wheel would’ve fallen from the van, and we would’ve been pulling a sick sideways skid with sparks flying all over… Making fireworks Cougie style!
We called our advisor at UREC and they surprisingly weren’t too excited to help us out at 5 p.m. on a Friday. Whaaat? I thought everyone wanted to tell their wife they will be home a few hours late because they’re helping the leg shavers get to Montana. But, nope. I guess that’s not how it works.
I’m going to shorten the Spokane bit and just say, Sammi’s parents helped get us off the highway. The tow-truck grabbed the broken vehicle. Easley, Bowden and I all got a rental vehicle and drove to Missoula. We got microwaved some frozen burritos and got to bed a little after midnight.
We woke up at 6 a.m. on Saturday and headed down I-90. That road was sketch! Snow, ice and the sight of crashed cars. If I were the type to get scared, I would’ve been scared. But, the dark doesn’t even scare me anymore!
The race officials contacted us to let us know they were delaying the race by two hours. Booyah!
We made it to the Lewis and Clark Caverns where the race started. We watched Brian Morra scoot across the parking lot on his rollie shoes for a while. We listened to “Call Me Maybe” 27 times. Then, we got our tight clothes on.
Due to time and weather, they also shortened the finishing climb to one kilometer, which made me smile as I kind of look like a sumo wrestler these days. Davis Shepherd, however, was not so happy. Understandable. He kind of looks like a ballet dancer.
After 70ish awesome miles of Montana sight-seeing, we hit the final climb with a group of five guys. Oh. I forgot one piece. While coming through the fast line in the break, Brian Morra reached over and tickled Shepherd’s armpit— Probably my most favorite race event I’ve ever witnessed. I think he even said, “Tickle tickle!” while performing the tickle.
Back to the race. We hit the climb, and Shepherd powered to the front. He shed a couple guys, and MSU’s Zach Heskett pulled through. We saw the line and Shepherd shot around Heskett. I started my sprint and rolled past for the win. I was very thankful. After all the stress the team experienced getting to Montana, I think my teammates would have placed me in the dog house if we drove away without a win.
We left happy though. Zach Bowden worked super hard throughout the race, attacking rooster-style, and Easley finished with an excellent 7th place. We were ready for Sunday.
Circuit Race
Sunday’s circuit race featured 3k laps with a big hill and a big descent. The Montanians were on a mission to crush. The cowboys were attacking, setting a fast pace up the climb, yelling… you name it! I think I even saw fire shoot from their eyeballs.
Around lap six of 11 a Montanian attacked. I bridged at the top of the climb and we were rolling. He was shelled by the time we hit the hill again and I rode two laps solo. Shepherd led the chase and I was caught with two laps to go. I recovered as well as I could and the race finished with a small group sprint. Shepherd punched it, a Montana man blazed past him and I shot through for win number two.
Zach rode his best race of the year, staying with the group and setting a high pace up the final climb. Super day for that man!
Easley (Easel Board) sacrificed his day riding strong at the front for the first half. I expect Easley will show the Cat 3s what up at Ronde van Palouse this weekend.
We’re on to the next weekend: Ronde van Palouse on Saturday and the Central Washington University Crit on Sunday.
Booyah!
Some photos from the weekend, courtesy of Dennis Bibko
The drive from Pullman to Wenatchee today. (Taken with instagram)
The Pullman house, in which I currently live, is in the process of being sold for when my lease is up— except the owners don’t live within five hours. So, I talk to these house-selling hooligans.
The realtor texted me this morning to say she was going to show the house. When I came home tonight, all the realtors had just tossed their business cards on the kitchen counter. What is this all about? Do I just picked the prettiest one and call them?
And really, peeps? I just cleaned the counter for you this morning, and then you just throw your cards all over it? It’s like I have kids already.
