Hugh MacEachran
Confessions of a Part-Time Pro

Hey Gang, sorry I let so much water go under the bridge between my entries here. The Thanksgiving week was a low key affair for clan MacEachran. I worked most of the week at the fitness factory (www.orchardsathleticclub.com), including Thanksgiving day. Which was remarkably busy! And then my lovely bride and I went home and made dinner. We had cornish game hens, cream cheese corn, mashed potatoes, rolls, and the obligatory pumpkin and pecan pies. Given that I love dessert, I picked up a Boston creme pie just to make sure we didn't run out of sweet yumminess. Finally, we went through a few bottles of wine. We had a surprise guest in my brother, whose plans to go to Nuevo Mexico to be with his wife and her family fell through. A good time was had by all.

I had Friday off so I snuck up to Copper Mountain to ski with some friends for the day. While the snow was actually pretty good, they had only 3 trails open and 2 lifts so it didn't take long before it was pretty skied off from the beginner skiers and snow boarders sideslipping down the hill and, in doing so, plowing snow off the mountain. I left fairly early as I was tired and the weather appeared to be closing in. My new little VW GTI hauled ass up and then down the mountains!

Saturday was spent sleeping late, working a little at the gym and then resting and riding for Sundays race. It was a windy and not so warm day on Saturday so I waited until fairly late in the afternoon to ride. It was sunny, breezy and kind of cool. I ended up having a great ride through the trees and fields alone with my thoughts. I felt terrible at the beginning of the ride and great at the end.

Sunday dawned cold and overcast here in Loveland. I packed up my stuff and headed south and then west. As I left Denver going west the snow started. It increased steadily until it was accumulating. When I arrived at the race venue, I sent my wife a picture message of the course titled "Uh-oh!" To whit, pictures of the race can be found here (http://www.meredithmiller.missingsaddle.com/2008/12/01/another-first/) and here (http://mudandcowbells.blogspot.com/2008/11/cross-racing-week-12-de-laatste.html). Sorry for the long links but I can't seem to create a hyperlink for them.

I rode my best, which wasn't great. I had a good first lap but it was SO slippery and dicey that we were all spinning out and crashing in the scrum of the first lap. After that, I just rode around for 45min. It was epic! I was cold to start and then warmed up. But, each time I grabbed metal parts of my bike to shift or carry it, my hands would get cold. In places, I HAD to ride slow because if I pushed the pedals too hard, the back wheel would spin. Despite all this, I somehow managed not to get last!

So, feeling robbed of one final HARD race effort (I had promised myself and anyone else who would listen that this was my last race of the year), I'm going back on what I said and I'm doing state champs this weekend. Its a good course I've never done before that looks entertaining! My wife is laughing at me as she says I've said EVERY race, for the past few, is the last of the year. And, in truth, I am looking forward to long easy group rides on the weekends! Wish me luck!
-Hugh
locosphinx@aol.com