Jorma Mueller wrote: 17.2 Wonder if John Bayley was right, just ride 200km and see if the knee > doesn’t quiet down. Amazing. > It’s like having your cake and eating it! Now if only the same logic applied to colds, I would be doing great! And while you can pick a different bottom bracket “standard” for every day of the week, the humble chainring bolt continues unchanged and unimproved…

So tired I cannot generate prose. So here is the chronology: 1. Start middle of 2000 riders because I registered 2 days before and didn’t know to email promoter if I had a real racing license. 2. Freeze a$$ of on George Washington Bridge at 6:45 am. Marvel at view of Manhattan. 3. Drill it for first 5km to get near front. Piss off a lot of Italians and Argentines in the process. 4. After first real hill, sit comfortably in lead group of 30. Drop chain off inside twice, notice wildly fluctuating power meter, think nothing of it. 5. Drill it for first hour, scared witless at the poor bike handling excepting the other racers I know. They were fine. 6. 3d big hill, drop chain again, notice it is between the chainrings, won’t come back on. 7. Get off bike mid-steep climb, notice I am missing two chainring bolts, the rest are practically falling out. Think to self, “F. How the F did that happen? And why didn’t I bring my multitool?” 8. Walk bike to thankfully close bike shop, muck around looking for chainring bolts for 20 minutes. 9. Find none that will work. 10. Put one opposite the other two, tighten them down. Back on bike, now 20-30 minutes down. 11. Drill it for next hour and 10 minutes at HR of 175. Realize it is useless to try to catch 1st or 2d groups. 12. As I realize 11, explode at foot of Bear Mountain climb. 13. Get passed by EVERYONE going up the climb. Including an huge, husky fella on a Trek wearing Livestrong shorts and a chap with a prosthetic leg. Not kidding. (Note: Trek guy offered me a gel, was totally encouraging. Told me to “Grind it out.” Cool dude.) 14. Limp home for last 80km feeling like death. Stop at rest stops. Do stuff your racer ego tells you you’d never otherwise do. 15. Lighten up, realize it’s a sunny day. 15.1 I’m on my bike. 15.2 Life is good. 16. Have realization fade transiently up every hill. 17. Get to last 6km out of 164, and wonder if I am doing permanent damage. 17.1 Notice knee didn’t bother me much. 17.2 Wonder if John Bayley was right, just ride 200km and see if the knee doesn’t quiet down. Amazing. 18. Cross finish line. 19. Sit for 10 minutes realize I have to ride from Jersey back to Brooklyn. 19.1 Ride at 20kph back to Brooklyn. 19.2 Arrive at friend’s house in Brooklyn, sunburnt and incoherent. 20. Drive back to Mass. 20.1 Notice there is no longer a single Taco Bell visible from highway. Start crying. 20.2 Arrive home 11:39 pm. Kiss wife. 20.3 Bed. 20.4 Sleep.

John was an hour off the pace today, good for 40th on the stage out of 600 teams. I am heading to the beach to lick my wounds and enjoy time with friends. I hope you are all well. Jay

Another set continuing my “finish line face project” and quite a few other sites.  More to come…

People and sites from the Cape Epic.  I am trying to get a shot of every dirty face as they cross the line each day…not easy as they come in fast.  Enjoy.

hey john—so happy you are riding so well but please remember you are 42 yrs old and i am aging every day knowing that you are doing this crazy thing. so sorry about jay’s hand. some things are just not meant to be.  enjoy yourselves “boys” and come home in one piece.

hey john—so happy you are riding so well but please remember you are 42 yrs old and i am aging every day knowing that you are doing this crazy thing. so sorry about jay’s hand. some things are just not meant to be.  enjoy yourselves “boys” and come home in one piece.

Dr. Loehner had a good ride today, an hour and a half off the pace to finish in 6 hours.  This is solid, near pro level performance from my teammate who is plumbing new personal depths of suffering.  I am proud of him.

I was supposed to go to a water point today and shoot photos but it got botched.  The race organization dropped the ball, so I was in the village.  I started shooting racers’ dusty faces as they came in, using a point and shoot Panasonic LX5.  The files are astounding and I will upload to flickr ASAP.  Right now the download speeds are just not in favor of getting it done.  SO hopefully tomorrow.

I hope all is well.  THanks for the kind words, everyone.  I will make Loehner post so you can stop hearing my goofy prose, eh?

Best,

Jay

I am sorry to hear about Jay’s hand. Will you be able to continue riding each stage by yourself? Stage 1 was an impressive result, John. Looking foward to seeing tomorrow’s result. Post some pics of the race so far. Good luck.

Dr. Jlo crushed the course…amazing! Super proud of my teammate! Beyond words…chech results on www.cyclingnews.com. Jay