Thursday, January 12, 2012
So here I am hanging out with the crew having a Belgian ale to help get in the right frame of mind after a cold, wet, muddy day in the pits, starting to sound familiar? Me and the tootsies rise before dawn to start loading the equipment in the van so we can provide pit services to Tom who is racing his qualification heat today. He has three bikes and yes it sounds excessive but we did use all of them. Karen played the role of prima donna rider and just wandered around while Peanut and I got our arses handed to us. First time through Tom hands his bike off to Peanut as I start to run with his pit bike as he mounts it. I give it a bit of a shove and his seat horn grabs his shorts and he lands chest first on his seat and his family jewels land on the back tire at which point the UCI pit official shouts oh, that's not good. I don't know if it's something I did wrong or he just feels sorry for Tom. Either way we don't get penalized 'cause I guess they felt Tom had already payed a price. Next time around the pressure washer isn't working correctly and I get to the pit just as Tom is coming in but Peanut in a heads up move is already there with his third bike. I throw down the 2nd bike and get there just in time to to help with a flawless handoff. So I think I'll have another ale and contemplate about my qualifying heat tomorrow, 30 degree high temp, 14 with windchill, snow flurries and 25mph winds. I think I'll check to see what happens if I don't show. Glad I don't have an extra bike so Tom can get even. I'll let you know tomorrow after my heat and a few more Belian ales how it all went.
