90 years.

SInce my grandma went to the trouble of living 90 years, I figured I could drive downstate for the party that my cousins were throwing her. It was supposed to be a suprise, and that certainly appeared to be the case. Bill, Nancy, and Kate drove down Sunday morning, and I headed over from Ann Arbor after spending the night with Ed and Ukari to do the Pontiac Lake Time Trial in the a.m.. It was nice to see Nana, and I suppose the pizza at Deluca's was passable (although probably chock full of poison). However, it still amazes me what kind of surroundings people down there are willing to put up with (Ann Arbor is okay). This Deluca's was in Westland. I don't ever recall being there before, and I sure as hell don't want to go back anytime soon. It's neighborhood's were just row after row of rundown brick houses that were really close together. Well enough of that....let's talk about some racing.
This was my first time doing a time trial race so I really didn't know what to expect. Now I do. Expect to suffer a whole bunch for a short period of time. The sport race was one lap of 9.8 miles, so you really have no choice but to go all out right from the start. They randomly assign pairs of riders to start together at 30 second intervals. The theory being that you are racing against the clock instead of the usual mass start hysteria and jockeying for position. My random partner and I rode the whole way together and managed to pass a ton of people that started in front of us. I don't think anyone starting behind us managed to pass us either. This was a new experience for me as I'm usually getting passed alot and generally have a hard time accelerating to hold someone's wheel. Yesterday, I felt great. This random guy and I took turns pulling, and we really put the hammer down. We rode the 9.8 miles in 49min. 30sec. with an avg. speed of 11.3mph. Considering the technical features of the trail and my lack of dirt time this spring, I was most pleased with the result (7th in the 30-34 age group). My buddy Ed fared even better (in spite of racing on a borrowed bike). The second picture is him cruising down the home stretch to a 5th place finish in the beginner class. Good job Ed. It looks like the weather has finally broken here as they are calling for sunny skies and a high in the mid 50's today. To go along with that wonderful forecast, I leave you with a new inspirational message: Risk = probability of an event happening x the consequences if it does.
This is why it is far less risky to be aggressive and in-control on descents than it is to be unsure and braking.