Friday, June 6, 2003

2003 Collin Classic

Collin Classic 30 mile skate
Indecision

I couldn't decide to skate or bike the event. By the rainy Friday night, I figure the road would be partially wet and told a few friends I would bike the 55-mile route. I missed riding, and through the Great Skate of TX I'd already donated this years quota to the big bearing ranch in the sky.

I woke up to a beautiful Saturday sky and 89.7% of my neurons wanted to skate. I took the bike out of the trunk and tossed in the skate bag.

Start

This is the biggest bike rally I've attended, and hundreds of cyclists practiced just-in-time management of waking up late. After waiting in the line for parking, the line for promised not to sue, and the line for event pack, the century riders were ready to go. As I headed toward back of the very long start line, I heard many riders expressing doubt regarding the rollerblader's (inline skater's) ability to participate. "You're gonna do what!" "How do you stop?" No one asked me where Gordon was.

Being intellectually unremarkable (moron) I failed to check the equipment before leaving the house. The left skate missed 1 wheel and axle. I felt slight perturbation of confidence (screwed) as I started at the very back of the pack without warm up.

After going at 5 mph for a while, I jumped behind a few fast cyclists who also ain't good at getting to event on time. I didn't get much draft as they dart in and out of the 15-milers. I pulled some back muscle during the zigzag portion of the course. I wanted my mommy.

The Course

Fortunately it wasn't a normal skating muscle. I felt fine once the road was clear enough to go straight. The course was very skatable. I kept waiting for the bad surface in Don's report to show up; it barely did. The black stuff is not smooth, but it's not as bad as some parts of the Tuesday night route. Over all it was an easier ride than 2002 Mesquite Rodeo Ride. I would've done the 55-mile if it weren't for the missing wheel and bad back.

There were some rolling hills. Long and gentle. The only tough hill was 1 mile before the finish. Many stood up pretending to be Lance Armstrong. I pretended to be Dave Guadiz and smiled as I passed them.

There were rest stops approximately every 10 miles. They seemed more and more attractive as my legs started to complain.

The people

I didn't see other skaters on the course except the few who pretended to be cyclists.

Everyone was nice to me, even the sheriff. I got encouragements from cyclists as I had problem staying in the pack going down hill. I ended up grabbing the bottom of their seats, which made interesting shadows.

My pack sneakily tried to drop me once when I said hi to Fuzi.

Post event

Lunch was served in the high school cafeteria. I ate hot dogs with the people I met on the 30-mile course. These are bicycle enthusiasts who don't necessarily care how fast they're going, not your typical Richardson Bike Mart Saturday crowd. We talked about Hotter n Hell and other events.

Wish more skaters were there.