...and I've got a cold. Yeah! I attended a middle school graduation on Tuesday and woke up with a headache and a really snotty nose. The timing couldn't be worse with the Whiteface Hill Climb just days away on what is supposed to be a beautiful and hot June day in upstate New York. I had always planned on recon riding the course but I never could make it over to Wilmington.
The Lake Champlain bridge is out, i.e. not there, i.e. blowed up good and gone, which somehow hampered my motivation to cross the lake on a training ride basis. The ferry in the bridge's place, however, is free. Start time is 5:30pm, in the thick of the early evening heat. I hope it's humid as Hades. Those are my kind of conditions.
The Lynskey is all set up and ready to go, although I'm on the fence about using a compact or a standard crankset. The average grade for Whiteface is just a hair over 8%, not the steepest climb around. But I've been using my compact all season so far and have gotten really used to it. Just this week I throw the standard on just for old times sake, and to remind myself that, yes, I used to be able to push a 39t up anything that came my way. I didn't really notice much of a difference, although I did feel like the mid-range gears were a tad bit harder to push (which they were, technically). We'll see. I'll probably make up my mind 24 hours pre-race, and then I'll make up my mind again halfway up the climb during the race.
To tell you the truth, I'm a bit nervous for this event. Even though I raced at Sunapee back in mid-May, I really haven't participated in a full-on TT event since the GMSR prologue back in September. Grad. school ate up all of my time and motivation and training took a back seat - the back bench seat in a Chevy 15-passenger van, not the back seat of a VW Rabbit; the WAY back seat.
Conveniently, I live in bicycle climber's heaven (or is it haven, or is it both?). My good friend Andrew Gardner and I have been assaulting VT's gaps for two months now and we're both feeling a lot better about ourselves than we did back when the snow was still dwindling on the ground. I need Whiteface to gauge where I'm at physically, to remind myself that I am still an athlete and can still climb hills. Even though Okemo is next which, in my mind, is a difficult little climb, much steeper than Whiteface, I'm sure I'll be more relaxed than I am right now.
If you don't hear from me within the next couple of days, wish me luck. I'll have a full report Sunday or Monday.
Good luck, bud
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