Hope Road

Today was the Hope Rd. 40K TT and I got up at 6:30 a.m. to eat breakfast, shower, and drive out to the staging area. It took me an hour and I arrived at 8:00 a.m. with time to sign in but usually takes longer. I was lucky I didn't get a speeding ticket between Anchorage and Girdwood because it has recently been classified as a "safety corridor" and the fines are doubled. Just as it was put in place, they did a story on the news about some sorry jackass that got a $680.00 ticket along Potter Marsh... I digress.

So I got up to a beautiful morning, ate some oatmeal, and headed to the coffee stand on my way south. I threw in the new TOOL (10,000 Days) to get me in the mindset for the self inflicted pain that was in my near future. It was sunny but a bit chilly as I pulled out the rollers and began to warm up. I was the only guy from Team Alaska Waste that was there and I wasn't in the mood to chat with the Kaladi guys that were warming up near me (although they're a great group of guys) so I plugged into my ipod and jammed for about 40 minutes. The start list was posted and I arrived at the starting line just prior to my start time... And then I was off.

The road is now a perfectly smooth ribbon of asphalt and as you head toward Hope there is a swift flowing river on your right and snow capped peaks on either side. There's a whole lotta photosynthesis goin' on with all the vegetation - especially the Birch trees - and the air smells clean and summery. The race was 12.5 miles out, 12.5 miles back, and turned out to have 920 ft. of climbing. Out of the start it was a bit downhill and I was excited to be going so fast but I knew I would have to meter my efforts because the road had many rolling hills. I felt good for about 2/3 of the race but began to fade toward the end. I made it to the turnaround in 29:08 but the time of my return trip was proof of my waning performance - 34:53. Although I really wanted to break an hour, it just wasn't in the cards and overall, I had a good time. Afterward, when most folks had left for home, I tagged along with the Kaladi guys for a mellow ride back to Hope - we just couldn't pass up some more time on that new asphalt coupled with virtually no traffic.

That was the morning. The afternoon consisted of taking out any left over frustrations by physically destroying a "clubhouse" in our backyard that was there when we moved in. It felt good to get rid of it and even better to be bonused out by my wife with a dinner of grilled halibut, bbq chicken breast, baked potato, bbq corn on the cob, a wicked salad, and some Deschutes Brewery Inversion IPA. Big day. Good day. I hope you enjoyed yours.