m i k e b r e v o o r t

Saturday was a busy day that started with the drive up to Winter Park for race #4. The course was a point to point so we opted to shuttle cars so we could get the heck out of Dodge when the race was over and not ride the 6 miles back up to WP. My warm-up was cut a little short because of the car swap and dilly dallying, and I felt REALLY flat. My legs felt awful, and I rolled up to the line nervously lethargic. Generally my heart rate jumps up into the 130s on the line due to nervous anticipation, but this time it was just creaping over 100. The race started up the same mile long fire road climb (big surprise), and I felt horrible. I can’t remember a race start when I felt this bad. My arms and hands went numb (WTF?!) and I suffered like a dog… as far as I could tell, I was the last one from my class up the climb and into the woods. I recovered some on the descent and, I gradually felt better and better. Erik and I went back and forth seven or eight times which was awesome. He really pushed me and kept me motivated, and I barely held him off over the last five miles. I had some rear derailleur problems over the last six miles too, turns out my cable slipped. By 2 miles to go, it had slipped all the way and all I had was my smallest gear in the back… luckily it was a gradual downhill to the finish. I ended up 21 out of 34, not great but I couldn’t have suffered more than I did.

On our way out, we got back to John’s car, loaded up and headed back to the Winter Park parking lot for our car. When we got there, Jeanie’s wheel was missing. She left it in the parking lot back in Frasier! We headed back to Fraiser and thankfully her wheel was still in the parking lot. That little incident led us to De Antonio’s Pizza. Halleluja!

This place was a gem… finally since moving to Colorado, we found a straight up Pizzaria, and they sold slices! We walk in and, no there was no conveyor belt “oven,” there was a big stack of Baker’s Pride ovens in the back, heating the little place up to at least 90F inside. Jeanie was a little over excited, declaring this was the first “real” pizza place she’s found in Colorado. There was no response from behind the counter, they just proudly blushed. I’m ready to buy a place in Frasier now

After our feast, we raced home. There wasn’t much traffic on 70, and we were making good time. We rounded onto c470, approaching 285 when we heard a thud from the front passenger side. We had no idea what it was but assumed it was something on the road. Two or three minutes later we start conversationally complaining that the air conditioner is sucking… then I notice the check engine light pop on and then Jeanie yells “Holly Sh*t look at the temperature”… pegged. I shoot over to the side of the road and the smoke started billowing out of the hood. I opened the hood and there was antifreeze everywhere. We waited on the side of the road for 40 minutes while the engine cooled down, assuming it was a blown hose or the thermostat. We took our last liter and a half of water and filled the radiator. I started up the car, walked around to the front, and it was pretty obvious what the problem was. The serpentine belt was missing… We turned the car off and called a tow truck and a ride.

In all, we sat on the side of the road, baking in the 98F sun, with no water (it was in the radiator) for over 2 hours. We finally got back down to pick up the kids at 7PM. Another long race day…