connie
Member
The Cruzbike Chicks were once again in the huddle plotting how they were going to tackle a short course with some not too terrible but slightly annoying climbs. Otto, Connie, and Emily were waiting for Rick to join their weekly strategy session when they heard the sound of bagpipes coming their way. Unbeknownst to them, Rick’s strategy was to acclimate to the Scottish Highlands by taking lessons on his newly acquired bagpipes. “What do you think Chicks? I think I’m getting pretty good at this.” And he was; but we didn’t think he should try to carry his beloved new instrument on his bike. “Maybe a harmonica might be easier to take along,” Connie suggested. “It’s definitely lighter.”
Otto tried to tone down the Chicks’ enthusiasm and get them focused on racing strategy. “Coyotes will have a 6-minute lead on us and the Gorillaz will start their Chick Chase 2 minutes after we leave the pen. It will take some serious concentration to pull this one off.” Emily had been doing some calculating, extrapolating, and serious guessing and presented our goals. “The Camels finished in 38.01 minutes. I think we can beat that time — maybe or maybe not. Anyway, let’s give it a go.” All Chicks nodded in agreement and switched from their kilts to their Alpine slopes kits.
When the gate dropped, the Chicks bolted out at a pace that could only be described as “very fast.” Otto set the grueling pace. No one complained. We couldn’t breathe well enough to say anything. The hill climbs were reminiscent of the notorious leg snapper. But we were undaunted and followed Otto’s command to “spin, baby, spin.” We tried to ignore the beautiful Northern lights, the stately castles, and the Loch Ness monster (it may have been Pete’s dragon — they look the same). We just closed our eyes and pedaled like crazy!
After Lap one, the numbers looked pretty darn good; but we decided to see if we could make them even better on Lap two. We did! As all four Chicks crossed the finish banner together, there was much rejoicing as we marveled that our finish time was 34:31 minutes — smashing our goal time.
We had just passed our Coyote friends and didn’t let up our pace. They’ve been known to send one of their fliers after us to infiltrate our ranks. The Chase rules clearly state that all the chasers must cross the finish line before all the chased racers. We managed to hold them off. We were on the lookout for the Gorillaz until the end and managed to escape their clutches once again. As a bonus, we finished #42 in the Latte Class. A record for the Chicks. How will we top this week’s performance? That will be the subject of our next strategy session. Stay tuned!
Otto tried to tone down the Chicks’ enthusiasm and get them focused on racing strategy. “Coyotes will have a 6-minute lead on us and the Gorillaz will start their Chick Chase 2 minutes after we leave the pen. It will take some serious concentration to pull this one off.” Emily had been doing some calculating, extrapolating, and serious guessing and presented our goals. “The Camels finished in 38.01 minutes. I think we can beat that time — maybe or maybe not. Anyway, let’s give it a go.” All Chicks nodded in agreement and switched from their kilts to their Alpine slopes kits.
When the gate dropped, the Chicks bolted out at a pace that could only be described as “very fast.” Otto set the grueling pace. No one complained. We couldn’t breathe well enough to say anything. The hill climbs were reminiscent of the notorious leg snapper. But we were undaunted and followed Otto’s command to “spin, baby, spin.” We tried to ignore the beautiful Northern lights, the stately castles, and the Loch Ness monster (it may have been Pete’s dragon — they look the same). We just closed our eyes and pedaled like crazy!
After Lap one, the numbers looked pretty darn good; but we decided to see if we could make them even better on Lap two. We did! As all four Chicks crossed the finish banner together, there was much rejoicing as we marveled that our finish time was 34:31 minutes — smashing our goal time.
We had just passed our Coyote friends and didn’t let up our pace. They’ve been known to send one of their fliers after us to infiltrate our ranks. The Chase rules clearly state that all the chasers must cross the finish line before all the chased racers. We managed to hold them off. We were on the lookout for the Gorillaz until the end and managed to escape their clutches once again. As a bonus, we finished #42 in the Latte Class. A record for the Chicks. How will we top this week’s performance? That will be the subject of our next strategy session. Stay tuned!
