Cycling and Raisin Toast / Weekend of Racing / 2008 Giro d'Italia

We finished the week with a recovery River Loop and Raisin Toast ride. Now, some might question if that is really a recovery ride... And will have a full weekend with races on Saturday and Sunday.

Before we get into the racing, I would like to say thank you to Kevin, owner of 19 Juice Bar in Southbank. He has been providing us with raisin toast and a great service every Friday for weeks now. Although, we are not bringing a lot of business to the place, he still comes out of his way to get our coffees and toasts out as soon as we get there. And most of the time with a smile and a joke.

This morning was no different. Only six of us showed up and ordered the coffees. Minutes later, the coffees started to arrive and out came a huge plate with our staple Friday diet. And delicious they are, far better than the stuff one can get in a supermarket or local bakery. Trust me, I know bread and what is presented to us is of good quality. And so is the coffee!

The good thing this morning was to have a very enthusiastic Kevin announcing that he had bought a bike and was now commuting to work three times a week. He made it clear that it is not an expensive racing bike, that it has "eight gears in the hub" and that he was really enjoying the rides to and from work, a 15 km round trip.

Hey, this is now another reason to go to 19 Juice Bar, I want to support a business where the owner/operator decides to become a cyclist himself. I just wish some more "cyclists" could feel the same way.


Racing

Tomorrow, we will have the HPRW (our club) Criterium Championship at Nundah. It is promising to be a great day of racing. That is if the changes made by one of the club committees actually works. To attract more riders, they decided to run as a graded race. There will be Elite A, B and C; Masters A, B, C, D and E and all the female riders in one race with a handicap system in place.

That means, I will race Masters A which will include any strong 34+ year old rider in the club. Tough for any 45+ who are still just hanging there when racing with those guys and with little chance of a top five finish. Well, perhaps I will prove myself wrong tomorrow by doing a Bennati style finish and surprising the sprinters by going from the front with 300 or 400 m to go.

On Sunday, we will race the biggest handicap race in the state (I think). The Avanti Classic is an open event that attracted more than 200 riders last year... all in the same race. It will be my first but Sandra raced it last year and loved it. As I am graded as Masters A, I won't start too far ahead of the scratch bunch who is lined up with local Elite riders and Elite teams. Another tough one but I will be racing for the experience.


The Giro

Well, Bennati got his third win this year, the young Cavendish only needed another 2 m to beat him, McEwen getting closer (maybe not!) but to me, Bettini is the "da man" by finishing 5th, surrounded by sprinters.