…is what this weekend is going to be.  Epic, but brutal.

But first, some less painful news.  I volunteered at the Cirque du Cycling race on Mississippi, which happens to be less than a mile from my place.  Fun race, big crowds, great atmosphere.

The race course lined with people

Banner hanging crew

Zach doing barrier takedown after the race

After a long day, I had a much needed margarita at Por Que No.

Oh, and I managed to get in a 60 mile ride with the team earlier in the day.

Other news:

• I finally have the title to my car after a month of mailing paperwork back and forth.
• I’ve gotten into A Thousand Splendid Suns and have been reading in the hammock the last several days.
• I broke a personal record for amount of pasta made tonight.  This weighs probably 10 pounds and will last me for several days easily:

Anyway, things will be getting interesting as of this Thursday.  After a quick car oil change in the morning, Pat and I are carpooling out to Baker City for the Elkhorn Classic Stage Race.

This will easily be the hardest weekend of racing I’ve ever done, and I’m stoked.

Friday

Stage 1 is about 75 miles and includes 3 good sized climbs that gain close to 1000 feet elevation each.

Saturday

Stage 2 is an 11 mile individual time trial – out up 400 feet elevation gain and then back downhill.

Stage 3 is a downtown criterium in Baker City.

Sunday

This is the stage I’ve mentioned before -105 miles, two good sized intermediate climbs and then the 6 mile finishing climb up 2500 feet.

All this, and the base elevation in Baker city is 3500 feet.

And I’m racing the cat 3s.

I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes.