OFF TO THE RACES: Day One - ilg is getting squished by the Sqauwker!

all photos by ilg...click to enlarge the various Chi Hits...

'there is only one way to mitigate the pain of the Colorado Avalanche struggling to stay in the playoffs,' i thought to myself, 'PERSONALIZE THE PAIN!' so...i signed up for the 3 events in 2 days of pain; the Squawker Cycling Race...perfect! What is it about getting a Race Number that suddenly simplifies and intensifies all that is meaningful about life?

***

so, being the WF Warrior that feeble ilg continuously attempts to be,
i figgered i'd take advantage of the Sqauwker Cycling Race, held right here in my h(om)etown...i mean, who in their Appropriate Action* mind would turn down a
3-event 2 Day Stage Race in their own town?!??! especially if their h(om)etown was DURANGO?!??!

the only thing missing was...uh..oh yeah, that's right...Road Cycling Fitness! oh, not to worry?! hec, we've re-ramped up the HP Yoga® PROP WORKOUTS here in D-town which has already reached capacity within 3 weeks of introduction, so we gotta order more Prop Blocks and think about expanding the HP Yoga® program at The Hub. So, you know, if you're cranking HP PROP Workouts? You know the feeling? You feel capable of ANYTHING...even a 2-day, 3-event cycling racing weekend at altitude with absolutely NO cycling base!

what's to fear? a wee bit of pain?

why, us WF'rs consider pain a purification pilgrimage! BRING IT, baby!!!

oh...the Squawker brought it...trust me...read on, oh noble faithful follower of performance-based bliss!

THIS MORNING:
25-kilometer Individual Time Trial

wind.
compared to Flagstaff,
hec, compared to my racing years in New Mexico...
cycling as hard as you possible can into a 17 mph full-on headwind?
kindy-garten shit.
however, up here in the Shambala known to the Outer World as Durango?
that 17-mph headwind felt like a barrage of bricks being thrown into my face for 45 minutes.
i was going so slow even the Mantra had to wait up for me.
ilg has not a fancy Time Trial bike. today, that fact hurt me.
i got caught by my 'minute man' at 17k.
then, something ilg is not too used to, i got passed on the final climb,
within reach of the finish line by my 2-minute man.

aaaaaaargh!

i finished 6th.

the plan was for Ananda and Dewa to pick me up at the Finish and haul my slobbered, hurtin' carcass back to Durango; 16 miles away. see, i was trying to save energy for the Crit race that started at 3:00 pm .

yeah; two races of categorically different physiologic demands on the same day.

perfect for us Wholistic-ally inclined sweating souls, right?

"Okay, baby," i said before i rode off to the Start Line of the TT (Time Trial), "just remember, that i am not bringing any water, no warm clothes, no cell phone...i NEED you to be at the Finish Line in time, okay?"


let's just say that...
well...
my girls were NOT at the Finish Line...
Ananda tried (bless her heart) however, last minute "poopies" seem to always release
right when you're walking out the door...
and the Finish Line was at about 8,500' and the elements were withering...so,
i began the ride back to Durango...fortunately, Ananda eventually found me. so,
i did what any other Durangatang Father would do;
i took my girls to:

Ananda and Dewa in front of the Bee Beings making honey at Honeyville...this is Dewa's current 'posing smile.'

HoneyVille to see the Bees make honey and buy the world's MOST INCREDIBLE skin lotion and grilling/dipping sauce (sorry, instant click not available, email me if you want to order) available on this plane(t)...then...

here, in the land of 'Elk and Honey' we watched Elk cavort with grass-finished fed cows in the Animas Valley at the unsurpassed James Ranch (if you ARE going to eat flesh? get it from here...)

then, we hung out at Shalona Lake...long-time friends of my family who just happen to own what must be one of this plane(t)s most enviable caches of real estate. they are perhaps the nations most popular producer of poinsettia's. if you have ever bought poinsettia's? it probably came from my friends who own this ranch.

THIS AFTERNOON:
40-minute Neighborhood Criterium

"Just breathe..." i kept telling myself, "it ain't so baadd." i took my HP PROP Workout® lingo to heart as i hung tuff as a coffin nail, as my Durango bro Bob Roll so exquisitely put it, onto the lead pack as we crushed time and again the kilometer-long, 6-turn course which snapped back-and-forth through one of D-towns most precious downtown neighborhoods. the salient feature of this Altar of Pain? a 12% kicker hill that took precisely two rounds of the Sacred Mantra.

after 10 minutes of doing this 6-turn torture test?

ilg felt like puking.

after 20 minutes?

75% of the racers had had enough.

ilg hung tough.

after 25 minutes?

the owner of The Hub...none other than National RR Champion and Crit Master Extra-ordinniare who has won the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic crit 3x as well as the Gila 3x...my new boss; Chris Wherry...was on corner number 6 cheering me on,

"Way to hang, ilg! Go!"

"Oh geez," i thought to myself through the over-done cooked flesh of my thighs and lungs and heart, "i can't lose this lead pack now?"

suddenly more faces in crowd cheered my name...
and more cowbells as i attacked "the killer hill" again and again
desperate to hold onto wheels as the minutes lazed by...

"is there going to be cowbells ringing in my Bardo Entry?" i wondered as the leaders surged once again up the knee-cracking hill. i think i even wondered that aloud.

"Namaste Noble Warrior!"
i heard as i raced through the Start/Finish Line approaching minute 29...God i love my students, my friends...a wave of uncommon LoveDepth replaced the fatigued toxins in my body as i accelerated toward the front of the 27-mph leaders leaning into corner #2...

sadly and so suddenly,
at the speed of inevitability...
but most of all and trust me...SADLY...
ilg got gapped, tapped, and strapped on the 13th time up that Blessed (instead of Damned) Hill...3 seconds off the leaders...turned into 7...turned into...

i spent the remainder of the race..the final 15 minutes solo...
trying NOT to get lapped by the lead group of 7 from which i had fallen from Grace...
the crowd cheered me on...
they saw me sweat,
they saw me struggle,
they saw me slobber...
lap after lap....
but most of all?

they saw and FELT me
NOT QUIT
NOT GIVE UP THE CHASE TO THE LEADERS.

note to Sangha: on the Path Higher?

there will all-Ways be somebody faster
somebody more elegant
more flexible
more strong
more enduring...

however,
feeble ilg says unto Thee still reading these
sweat-soaked Dharma Words?

there are FEW that
choose to attack their weaknesses
and
destroy their hindrances,
and
pursue Wholeness
like
a WF Warrior.


coming up tomorrow?

the ROAD RACE on top of College Hill.

you gonna be there with ilg?

only DL Subscribers get to ride this slide!

May your Weekend be Whole,

ilg

* WF Lifestyle Principle Number 3...but then, you already knew that, didn't you?!