good times in toronto, eh.

(photo: Wes) what can I say? the short of it: my teammate Kevin took 4th in the 3's and Ben took 18th, three places back from the points, but probably a good :30 too. I did nothing from the pit but shout.

Kevin was up at 8am for the 10am race. He wanted to ride there as a warmup so I met him there, shouting and spectating from the top of the ski hill. Did I mention the ski hill? The entire course was up and down the hill. Insane. Ben drew this up- this is about 1/3 of the course. It was awesome because we could see so much of what unfolded in the race from the pit, and for Kevin's race, from standing on top of the hill. I shouted at the 3's alot, including telling the leader he was in last place once he mixed with lap traffic. He stopped dead and looked at me, "no, I'm in first."
"That was a joke."
"Oh, ok." (no laugh.) He then got back on his bike and started riding again.
Kevin killed it for a 4th place finish. Way to take the international circuit by storm!

I got a tip from one of the many super-friendly locals that there was a secret second floor to the registration building that had clean bathrooms and a heated, covered space. When we rolled up with Ben, we set him up there with trainer, change of clothes, etc. It worked out like a charm and instead of jumping around trying to stay warm he did his 'warmup' by laying on the floor for 5 minutes before pre-ride.

Just before the start, he tells me his A bike isn't shifting into the big cog. Big problem, considering the big hill. I stand there, trying to be discrete about the fact that I'm tuning his bike while he's on his B bike waiting for callups. Got it moving again and traded out bikes while he was in the corral. Ugh. After Saturday's mud we need badly to recable both bikes, and both derailer hangers are bent, and things are just getting... wonky.

Off the start I could see him flying away with a front group, hitting the first barriers just behind Molly. He settled into the low 20's and slowly picked guys off. The course had its role in things too- Mike the Canadian (who was so kind to us in Michigan) broke a chain and didn't have a pit bike... someone else broke a pedal off... it took such power to get up that hill that things were breaking. Ben's bikes somehow muddled through. He was getting close numbers-wise, but the gaps in front of him were growing. I still can't believe the power he threw down consistently each lap to get up that hill. Insane.

The clouds were heavy and grey and the weather was windy but OK for the race, but those clouds were threatening. I put my rain pants on before the start, just in case, which basically ensured it didn't rain. All we did from the pit was laugh at people who wiped out, including Johnson on lap two and Ben in the exact same spot four laps later. Aside from that, no big news.

Thanks again to the friendly folks who introduced themselves. Turns out the random flickr stream I poached for yesterday's photos is a guy who recognized me from the internets and introduced himself - Mike - and hello also to Wes who stalked Ben's bikes all weekend and took some rad photos. The world is getting so small, and I feel so lucky to have met so many outgoing and welcoming folks. Come to Chicago, eh?

We got home at 2am, after a dinner stop at Moose Winooski's, where I had poutine and Ben had schnitzel and Kevin drank a Canadian. It snowed from the border all the way through Michigan. I'm trying to fight off a cold- no time for being sick with NJ USGP this coming weekend. This morning, I did a load of stinky wet muddy laundry before work, and it came out smelling precociously like peppermint and menthol. Something with embrocation on it must have slipped in.