I had a great day yesterday.

I took a day trip down to Eugene for a bike ride and to see some friends.  Bike ride might be a bit of an understatement.  We did Wolf Creek, an 80 mile ride in the wind and rain that meant nearly five hours of riding.  It’s got some large climbs and lots of rolling hills plus some scenic views.  It’s definitely one of the rides that defines the Eugene area, and has always been one of my favorite.  With a group of just four of us, the wind and weather made for a long day, and by the end we were all beat.  Given my hard three hour tempo/time trial ride the day before, I felt surprisingly good.  My legs were fairly dead from the day before, but my energy level was high.

Plus, I got further confirmation that I am indeed climbing like a mountain goat this year.  I think it’s a combination of two things.  Running has definitely improved my climbing – especially out of the saddle.  I can stand forever on a climb, whereas in past years I really would only stand to shake out my legs briefly.  The second part is that I actually hit my race weight this year.  Each of the last two years I was in good shape come race season, but I figured my ideal race weight would be 170 or slightly under, and I’d end up at 175 or slightly over.  This year I’m… hold on… 167 as we speak.  That doesn’t make a big difference on flats, but going uphill 7-8 pounds less is a major difference.

That difference could be a very important factor for the stage race I have coming up in early April.  The road circuit that’s the final stage of the race has a 5 mile climb that we’ll go up twice.  While in Eugene, I also picked up my trispokes from Chris to get a cassette on them in preparation for the race.

My aero equipment is pretty much on permanent loan to Chris.  I want to do whatever I can to help see that he goes pro at some point.  But for this race we’ll get to share it, which is exciting.  I love throwing all the aero equipment on to go race against the clock.

Anyway, after the ride we (Chris, Karey, Derek, Leeann, Mike, Me) went to Agate Alley Bistro and had burgers.  Not quite the most typical post-race food, but definitely hit the spot.  Then it was on to Sweet Life, which is pretty much a must if you’re in Eugene.  I had the key lime tartlet – my standby whenever I go there.  Then things got really interesting.

Keep in mind, we’re all tired from the ride, and my reflexes aren’t quite 100%.  I didn’t particularly lose my balance, but I did take an extra step backwards to make sure I had my footing as I got up from the table.  As this happened, somehow or another my hand ended up in the drink of a girl sitting at the table behind ours, knocking it over.  Not just running into it, but very much submerged in it.  The table must have been at the perfect height for this to happen, as I was completely upright and not leaning over.  It spilled everywhere.  I quickly righted the cup to preserve some of the contents, and then I wasn’t sure what to do.  I quickly apologized and offered to buy another of whatever she was drinking, while at the same time trying to process what on Earth had just happened.  She declined the replacement drink, and I had a hard time balancing feeling bad and at the same time wanting to laugh my head off at the bizarre predicament.  It must have been a rich drink, because my hand was fairly covered in chocolate.  We cleaned up the spill on the floor and went on our way.

Once I got back to the car with Chris and Karey, we couldn’t help but crack up.  The foam on the latte, if you will: I missed it, but Karey told me that right after the spill and hand-in-drink occurred, she took another sip!