Sunny Side Up

Forecast for race day, East Burke, VT, as of Wednesday night, April 13

It's fitting that following an exceedingly mild el nino winter, this year's Rasputitsa is shaping up to be mild as well with lots of sun and temps in the 60s. At least that's the forecast just three and a half days before race day.

Team Shad welcomes this development. Mud & cold, raw overcast skies, rain & snow, these are not ideal conditions for Team Shad, despite the propensity of our namesake herring to favor cold ocean depths. Indeed, following a Friday that's also forecast to be sunny and clear, the course might possibly be in ideal shape on Saturday.

As for the squad, we're a carefully chosen, tight knit unit of two. Lacking the relentless physicality of youth, we must employ instead guile and karma, stealth and meditation. To state the obvious, we lack numbers. But we have many years of cycling experience between us and our intentions are pure so we are confident in a solid showing.

Typical pre-race headquarters established at the Lyndon Motor Lodge, strategically close to the race start yet also bounteous in luxury for the riders. For example, each rider gets his own bed (one's a queen, the other's a twin. I.e. the beds.). And there's a bathroom. And hot water. Perfection.

Beaver log, in the woods of Shutesbury

You know, they say that the American beaver is one helluva tenacious and indomitable creature, a tireless, determined character that somehow also seems to possess a sense of humor, like, hey, check me out, I just chewed down a maple tree, heh heh heh. There's something both admirable and laughable about them.

Just this past Sunday on our last training ride, the Virginian and I were reminded of this when the forest road we were riding along devolved rather abruptly into a babbling river fed by an overflowing beaver pond, and became impassable. In the forest around the trail lay plenty of evidence of beavers. Once while kayaking with DS Mawgs a decade ago, he and I came upon some fresh, beaver-gnawed twigs and we took a few as souvenirs. We called them "beaver sticks." What the Virginian and I saw scattered about were not beaver sticks but beaver LOGS. And it occurred me then - I must strive to ride with beaver indefatigability (intentional sic). I must gnaw the obstacle patiently and within my means until I prevail.

Practical Notes

Layering. With the possibility of nice mild weather, now I have to pack for every possibility, not just for "cold, wet, and crappy." Now, nuance is involved. Will it be cold at 9:00 in the morning? Will the sun be fully out or will clouds still be in place? Will it cloud up during the day? Or will it just get warmer?

The Crux Elite in the dungeon of Shad

These are impossible things to know until race morning, so the prudent Dubstoevsky must account for multiple layering options. It will all be packed in durable LL Bean canvas toes (each monogramed "Bonks" though not as a sort of preemptive jinx against every cyclist's nightmare, i.e. bonking, but actually a reference to the familial form of the professional moniker Bonkers the Clown, the character that Dubstoevsky played, once upon a time, in a circus that traveled the Ukraine, Moldova, & Belarus), and along with several coolers (for storage of the elusive Heady Topper should any be procured, as well as pre & post race ital provisions), all stuffed into the boot & back seat of the team car. With the Crux Elite riding in genuflection on top.

Ask for it

Special thanks out to the team's single sponsor, TJRZOG Salt & Mineral, DFW, Ltd of Bender Moldova, which, in conjunction with Ed Hyder's Mediterranean Marketplace, brings the team water bottles filled with smoked-coarse-sea-salt-infused water.

When plain water just isn't nasty enough.