A Slice of Bad Luck Pie

Cycling can be so frustrating. One day, its good karma. The next day, it's bad. I think you can guess the direction of my last ride. Yup. Not so fun. Let me paint the scene for you:

It was supposed to be a hill workout for a planned brick of 1 hour cycling and 40-60 min running. BTW - this bike loop is about 8 miles, requires nearly zero stopping, and has some of the steepest grades I can find in my area. A pretty sweet find if I may say so myself. After nearly finishing the first of the two hilly loops, I was ascending a steep incline in the newly paved bike lane. From my perspective, I saw nothing in the form of a glass, rock, etc. All of the sudden in mid spin, POP! Not only the tube, but the tire! Both tires to be exact! Yup. Face full of air is what I was rewarded with. I looked around and found nothing wrong on the road. Needless to say, no roadside repair for this situation. I walked the bike home, which took me about 30 minutes. Glad it was a hilly course (sarcasm).

On the positive side, I still went out for the run. Oh yea, and that also meant a trip to the LBS for some new gear. I picked up some new tires and tubes and hopefully will be back in business this week. I hope. Fingers crossed. I could use some good bike karma. Technical difficulties have kept me from being able to hit my training goals and its starting to add up. Wish me luck!

CSC Invitational Professional Cycling Race

Today I saw one of the cooler things that comes through Arlington, VA. Clearly, Rolling Thunder tops the list of coolest things, but the CSC Invitational comes in a close 2nd, and is only a week after Memorial Day. So that means 2 awesome weeks in a row! This was actually the first time I have made it out to watch the CSC (shame on me, I know) and I was really glad to see all the local support, which included approximately 20,000 people. Considered by many as one of the most difficult courses due to the many turns throughout the 100 laps of the 1km course, the CSC weaves right through the heart of my neighborhood. The course passes by approximately 2 blocks from my apartment, which is just awesome to be able to walk out into a professional cycling race at my door. So without further ado, I bring you one video (note that TT and her fancy camera took better pictures and videos, but I like mine with my 1st generation Canon Elph) pictures from today's race.

Before the Pro Race

The Real "Pros" (Check out Dad on the cell phone!)

Start of the Pro Race

Early Breakway Pack

Tight Technical Turns

Pro Support Cars