Tonight is the first in a series of POA Cycling Team Summer Series races.  It will be my second criterium race in five days.  I hope the old legs will be ready.

Yesterday I was home with a sick child.  It was a stomach virus.  I don’t know about you, but when I am around someone sick like that I start having all kinds of strange feelings.  The day started out with me thinking I was getting the bug as well.

Thankfully, that wasn’t the case and the beautiful redhead returned in time for me to get out and stretch the legs a bit.  It was a fun easy ride that started at my house.  I headed down East North Street and Pelham Road to The Worthwhile Company offices.  I needed to sign a paper.

From there I started making my way towards Sunshine Cycle Shop.  I had no desire to ride on Pleasantburg Drive, so I cut through the backlots of the strip malls on that section.  That brought me nearly to Pine Knoll.  After a very short section on Pleasantburg, I was able to breathe again.

At Sunshine I had John check out my gears.  On Tuesday night I kept having some chain skip when under load.  I didn’t want that happening when I came out of a corner Thursday night.  After the minor adjustment and some talk, I headed out toward downtown.

I did this by cutting through neighborhood streets that ran parallel to Wade Hampton Blvd. until I reached Main St.  I stayed on Main because I wanted to swing by the new South Main St. location of Liquid Highway.  After finishing off a muffin and starting on a cup of coffee, I headed to Fall River Park.

It was time for a pit stop, so I rode my bike right into the elevator and dropped to the second level of the park where the bridge (and the restroom) is.  I left the Garmin on to see if it would pick up the elevation change.  All done there, I headed across the Liberty Bridge and then to Cleveland Park.

A nice urban ride

A lap later I was heading home.  It was nice to cover only about 17 miles in an hour and a half.  You (or at least I do) need to have those times on the bike when you can just look around you and take in the scenery and activities around you.  This ride was good for the body and soul.

Tonight that will change.  The good news is there is no chance of rain, the winds will only be around 5 mph, and the temperature will be in the 70s.  It is going to be a fun night for racing.

My objectives are: 1) keep the rubber side down and 2) get a top ten finish.  Hopefully I learned what not to do during Sunday’s race.  It would be nice if I could start learning what to do this evening.

If you have the evening free, head on out to the old Greenville Braves stadium (Municipal Stadium) and take in some of the action at the POA Cycling Summer Race Series.  I’ll be putting out there during the 6 PM race.  The real racers will take the course after that.