 |
| Forest Hills Elementary |
We joined the Primal team for the school visit, talked about bike safety, healthy lifestyles and the importance of working hard in school even while pursuing a career in athletics. The kids always ask great questions...why are the tires so skinny and are they safe? (Michelin's Pro4s are super fast and yes, they are stellar in the corners)...Do you ever eat junk food? (Could you please define the term junk food? If you mean ice cream, then yes, absolutely because it makes me happy and that's important)...and how many times have you won? Nicky Wangsgard answered that last question beautifully, pointing out that for every one time we win, we've lost ten times leading up to it. Not sure if all the kids took home the message behind that, but after a rough start to the racing season for me personally, it was an aptly timed remark and really sums up bike racing and the need to embrace both the good and the bad moments on the bike because it's all part of the experience. We held a mock race around the school parking lot for them and I think the kids enjoyed the banter between teams. Luckily there were no crashes. Really the Pro4s do well in sandy bus circles as well as crits. :)
 |
| Kat in sneakers on speedplays...the odds were stacked against her. |
After the school visit, Whitney and I relaxed a bit and got some work done before the race. I know relax and work in the same sentence seems contradictory, but that's kinda how we operate. Before we knew it, it was about that time to pin the numbers. Whitney insisted I chug some coffee before the race, so I complied. It seems as though she's started to call me mom on this trip....chaco's on the podium....ugh uh Whitney, bring your shoes....okay Mom.... and I think I should start calling her boss....when I get indecisive, in comes Whitney to get shit done. Ummm I don't know if I really want to drink this right before the race...Whitney chimes in, DO IT!
 |
| The mover and shaker aka Boss aka Whitney Schultz |
After Whitney's proven success on Tuesday, she was very well marked. No one was letting her get anywhere last night. She raced with her usual sass, attacked, went for some primes but it didn't pan out. Meanwhile, I was working on some of those little (or big) things I needed to address to get back into the racing groove. Midway through the race we were neutralized after a crash. Luckily everyone was OK and while we were waiting to re-start, I connected with some of the kids on the sideline. Once we were off again, it was all business and Whitney and I worked on making our way into better positioning amidst the attacks and primes. In the final lap, I knew I wanted to be in the top 10 before the last two corners but the connection was getting lost between the brain and the pedals. That's when the boss piped in from somewhere near me to get my butt in gear and go. It took a couple seconds of her yelling at me, but the message was received. So I sprinted and found myself about 16th wheel through the last two corners. And that's the position I stayed in on the narrow finishing straight. Whitney followed close behind to squeeze into the top 20. We finished 16th and 19th for the night. Sure, it wasn't a podium finish but it wasn't without success either. The kids found us immediately after the race and stuck by us for the remainder of the evening. When they noticed a photographer taking a picture of us from afar, they asked if the picture was going on the internet. I figured their family didn't want them to have their picture on the internet so I was preparing to say something to her, but then the kids exclaimed, "Sweet, we're going to be famous!!!" and clung to me, waving her over to take more pictures. We didn't win last night, but they sure made us feel like we were a BIG DEAL. They were a hoot.
 |
| Another new canine friend. Kiley sure thought we smelled good when we got home to Beaufort! |
Race #4 down and 3 more to go!
No comments:
Post a Comment