Ok, I have yet to get on my bike this morning so I'll extend my Winning Grace Period another few minutes...
Rob
How do you "feel" after a day like yesterday?
I think I covered that enough already. I feel good, realistic, like racing again, and more or less the same.
Is the high so great that the muscles don't hurt today?
Interesting that my legs actually didn't hurt quite as much yesterday, until I had to walk up the subway steps and they hurt again.
Were you cranking the radio and singing on the way home a la Tom Cruise?
I listened to My Morning Jacket, which is as close to Phish as I could get. They were playing some jam-band music at the race when I left and I really wanted to know what it was. Moe? I don't think it was Phish. MMJ was a good replacement. I wore headphones but kept the volume reasonable. I sang a little.
Did you sleep with the handlebar? (not that way)
Nope, nothing silly like that.
Did you sleep last night or did you replay the race over and over in your head?
I replayed Fair Hill much, much more in my head. That was the start of the "holy crap you might win a race this year" thinking. Sunday was the 4th race and it's part of the process now. I know that any race I show up at I have a shot now, so winning isn't so unexpected that I replay it over and over. Having said that I did replay the part where I was passing experts.
Did you wake up and wonder if it really happened or if it was a cruel dream until you felt the handlebar under your back?
Nah, but I did wonder if having to get up early and go to work was.
Did you drink that stuff whatever it was you won?
Yes, that didn't last long. Saisson isn't my favorite style but I like it, and the beer didn't make it to 9:00 pm that night. I drank it out of my DH40 glass that Mike gave me last year. I gave up temporary right to the SSaP glass for the sake of the DH guys, and maybe that karma won me the race.
Mike
Yes, I'm still challenged. I need to go out and do it again in 3 weeks, then again at LM, which is going to be super difficult, then KVSP. I don't expect to win any of those races. I do expect to battle for a podium in all of those races. I think I could stick in Sport all year and still be challenged to be honest. I was 4 minutes faster than that specific pack of riders who showed up. Not all the big names were there. I beat a guy who rides in my class by 5 minutes. The first 2 H2H races I beat him by 4 minutes both races. So I was on, but not astonishingly on.
Cyclopath
I started to lose more weight when I started riding a ton. I went from 195 to 180 over the winter, roughly. I've been bouncing in the 177-180 realm the past month, and my experience is allowing me to keep it there. Last year I got to 182 but once heavier training started it climbed back up. Many people have said that adding intensity makes losing weight extremely hard, and I've experienced exactly that. I'm battling it again this year. When you amp up the intensity, your hunger goes out of control. Knowing that's coming makes it easier to deal with, and also makes it easier to stop from overdoing it.
As for inspiring, maybe when this chapter of the year's story runs its course, I'll picture of what I looked like 10 years ago. If anyone thinks they can't get to this point they need to take a look at that and reassess their opinion.