It was a weekend..

Well, it was at least a weekend. Of course, weekend typically means that the work week has ended and you're free to pursue extracurricular activities. While, I did get some of those fun times in this weekend, it still didn't mean that I left work. Saturday and Sunday found me sitting behind the desk for at least a few hours each day. Mercifully, I couldn't spend all day here due to other commitments.

Saturday afternoon found me putting Corley down for a nap and then dropping her by grandma's house where she'd be spending the night. After that, I met my hot wife back at home where we got ready to head to the Rassy team party. It was a blast enjoying the great people that make up the various teams that Rasmussen's sponsors. There's the triathletes, mountain bikers, roadies, and those that span multiple designations. All of them came together for a great time hosted by some amazing people Chris and Collier Schofield. Big hats off to them for providing a great party place at one of the few places in Des Moines that I've long wanted to check out.

I spent a good part of Saturday night debating about going to the time trial at the Science Center on Sunday and had pretty much talked myself out of it. Somewhere in the wee hours of Sunday AM as the alarm was ringing 6 bells, I decided to sleep in a bit, try to get a bit of action, and see if I had any legs left under me. For those keeping score, I hit 3 for 3. Alas, on the last count, I definitely did NOT have any legs yesterday. 2 weeks off the bike tends to do that to a guy. As we gathered for the race, I went out for a pre-ride of the course and felt myself getting winded even at a relaxed pace. That's not a good sign. As I lined up, my heart rate was sitting at 140 before even turning a pedal. That's an even worse sign. Ahh well, I had my dues paid and was there to have fun. I squeaked out a slow start on the pavement and was easily passed by the guy starting a minute behind me just as we started some climbing in the rose garden area. I pulled off and slowed so he could fly by. I figured why bother holding anyone up at this point.

I hit rollercoaster and was doing better by this point only to find the William's from eastern Iowa coming back up the trail as they were lost having not ridden here before and not pre-riding the course. They hopped in behind me and quickly passed me as I managed to fall over as I spun out climbing the switchback just after the creek crossings, which I at least cleaned easily. Robin was gone after that, but I kept Kyle in my sight most of the way through Hillside where I actually caught him. I guess I had the advantage of having ridden here before as I was bombing the downhills pretty well and he was getting me on the climbs. He pulled off to let me pass so I took off and hit it. That was a mistake as I quickly ran out of steam and just pulled off so Kyle could get back by and I wouldn't slow him any. I eased on through the uphills and finally hit the pavement downhill to the finish.

I haven't quite figured out where this obsession comes from, but I apparently love flying down pavement on my mountain bike. I tend to get nervous on my road bike, but with some wide tires under me, I'm damn near fearless. This was no exception as I came flying through the crowd and then hammered the brakes including a decent stoppie that brought some cheers from the crowd. I found out later that they classed the beginners in with the sport class since there were only 3 of us. I managed a 2 second better time than Kurt who I've been trading back and forth with since my Boone race debut putting me at 2-1 for wins. However, looking at the standings this morning, my time was good enough to put me in 3rd for the sport class once they bumped me up! Woohoo. Not bad for feeling like crap for half the ride and enjoying the flow the other half.

The rest of Sunday consisted of more work. Or in the words of Scott Sumpter, "you know it's Sunday?!" Yes, I'm painfully aware of that Scott... I did pick up Corley and we enjoyed some afternoon time playing, doing dinner, and bath time before I introduced her to Sunday night football. Heh, she got a kick out of it. Now it's time to hit it hard for another week, but at least I signed up for Ales and Trails this weekend.