Baylor University Race Weekend 2011

So this past weekend we loaded up the trailer and set course for Waco, TX. Yeah, also known as Middle of Nowhere, as well as the place where they had that incident in 1993. Honestly, folks, that's all I could remember about Waco until I found out that the Dr. Pepper Museum was only a couple of blocks over from the hotel (too bad we couldn't visit). Regardless, we got to the hotel room after a long car ride on Friday and I wolfed down a can of beans with onions and salsa before getting some sleep. Sleep was a major priority considering we were all pretty tired from travelling.

There's seriously a town called Cut and Shoot, TX.

The sunset was beautiful on Friday.

Saturday morning consisted of breakfast with the Rice and MSU teams at the hotel and then an early departure to the road race. Once we arrived, the race officials directed us to a field where we were to set up our bikes. Okay, no problem. But upon opening the car door, I remembered what goes in fields. Cows. Cows that leave their dung everywhere. We also saw some cacti growing, which made riding our bikes to the road a bit tricky.

Almost stepped on this not-so-little surprise while exiting the car

Yeah, that's the first wild cactus I've ever seen.

The road race went pretty smoothly, and David got a pretty decent placing in the Category D race. I was in contention for a top 10 spot but wiped out when a couple of riders went down in front of me. Fortunately, I landed in a ditch after hitting the pavement, which was convenient. My knee was extremely sore (probably from my bike clipping itself out for me during the fall), but I can remember yelling at the people in the follow car (that stopped to assist us) to "help the kid who's down." Whoops, I forgot that all of us that crashed were still down when I said that. Actually, a rider from Rice sounded seriously injured, and I vividly remember watching him hit the road before wiping out myself. Not the best memory to be seared into my brain. Once I was able to get up I walked over to him and made sure his head was still in the game by asking him his name, the date, etc. He seemed to be doing okay but I told him not to move while some race volunteers called the ambulance. He was at breakfast the next day and we found out that he had a broken collar bone, some stitches, and no concussion, which is very fortunate considering how hard he went down. All of Tulane Cycling was relieved to hear that he didn't suffer any head injuries.

Those of us that walked away from the crash (and still had functioning bikes) lined up to get back into the race when I noticed that everything around me was brighter. Apparently I had lost my Oakleys in the crash, and I rushed to go find my sunglasses under a mound of dirt while those riders headed off. After getting back on course, another group of Category D riders came along and helped pull me to the finish. Another teammate of mine tweaked his knee in the race and finished right at the back of that group. In addition to the Category D road race injuries, a Category C rider for Tulane also wiped out (twice). It was a sore Saturday for all of us.

At least I finished in one piece.

Not so bad after all.

Next item to purchase: new bib shorts.

We had almost identical injuries on opposite sides of our bodies.

Saturday afternoon was a bit warmer (read: 95 degrees Fahrenheit), and we got to the course set up our bikes for the team time trial. The men's team captain informed David and I that we were to race in Category C for the time trial, which made us feel all the better (pause, not). We hydrated as best we could and rolled up to the start line. The race was only 9 miles or so, but the heat got to us, and the uphill finish wasn't easy. One teammate in Category B almost suffered a heat stroke and took a while to normalize after finishing his race. Not a fun way to end the day.

Getting ready to line up for the team time trial.

Category C time trial finish.

After showering and going out to a Mexican restaurant for dinner, we returned to the hotel for some rest before Sunday's crits. A few of us watched some Comedy Central before bed, which was pretty entertaining.

We got some good Mexican food.

Sunday morning rolled around and we headed off to the criterium course. I had to run back into the hotel to grab my leg warmers since the temperature dropped about 45 degrees overnight. Great. After setting up our bikes, David and I warmed up for the Category D race. Once the crit started, he pedaled into the lead group while I hung back with some Rice riders. We worked our way forward until the end of the race, and after looking at the results, David and I came in 5th and 7th, respectively. Not too bad for a cold day.

It was cold.

Very cold.

Make-me-bitter cold.

And someone needed to bring a vuvuzela.

Not bad!

During the long ride home, we hung out, ate cake, and shot the breeze. Remember when I said I'd be able to cope with Waco if there were cupcakes? Cake does the trick too.