Lands End slip on hiking loafers. I use them mainly as a shoe to go out to my garage in the winter. They were on my feet when I drove to the race Sunday. They were on my feet when I got all my gear on to start warming up as I realized I had no bikin’ shoes. Shit….Then I sank a little bit…Then I said oh well, poop happens. I knew my wonderful wife was coming later and would be kind enough to bring them with her. The first race (masters 30+) was not completely awful except for everytime you had to actually use the pedals. And that hill, everytime I went up that hill it was like riding on nails, crucified by the foot and fixed to the bike. The fancy footwear had all kinds of new names being shouted at me my favorite was from Newt, who called me ‘Slippers’. As I crossed the line for the bell lap my dad was waving the appropriate footwear at me so I pulled into the pits for a quick last lap shoe change. With the new soles in place, it was a totally different race. Wow so amazing is the difference between “Clown Shoes’, as I called them, and bike shoes.

The second race (cat 3) was excellent, with the right shoes, I had a confidence boost. They’re not shiny yellow or white but they sure did the trick. On course there was just enough difficult turns to keep me in it. And those climbing/run up sections with the ensuing descents were a welcome treat that are all to rare for us here in the flats. My start had me on tall end of the top ten. Every lap I passed a few more people and started feeling better and better. In the last lap I battled for fifth place. I launched my attack off of a set of double barriers and sprinted away as hard as I could for a few quick pedal strokes. It had to be enough, because I knew I would loose time on the hill climb. But bombing down that descent, almost all the way spun out in the big ring. Straight to the line I held the pace and kept it clean for fifth place and finally a spot in the top ten. First for the year.