So disregard everything I said about skipping the Vermont trip. Last week, I sucked up all my pride, bought a really shitty ticket and flew off from the Minneapolis airport at 6:00am on July 19. My journey through the better part of 3 national airports was fairly ridiculous. In Minneapolis, my bag was lightened by security - I left my nice allen wrench in my carry on by accident and it was taken from me in case I became a security threat. In Chicago my flight was delayed by an hour because a smoke detector in one of the bathrooms on the airplane was broken. In Washington DC we sat on the runway for awhile waiting for the lightening to stop. Finally I landed in Hartford, only to get stuck in Massachusetts rush hour traffic driving to VT.
In the midst of all the plane hopping there was one note of interest - I met a really interesting guy on the way to Connecticut. When he first sat down next to me I had no idea of the conversation I was in for. Turns out this guy graduated with a undergrad and masters degrees in astrophysics and astronomy, respectively, from columbia university. He did his doctorate and post doc at yale in astronomy and then continued on to an observatory in peru studying star clusters. The goal of his experiment was focused on studying the history of the formation of the universe. Now I wont bore you with any details but this guy was absolutely fascinating - we continued on to talk about astrobiology, vermont, the military, and the separation fence in israel/palestine. Man, he had opinions like no ones business - maybe I've just never had a political arguement with a National Guardsmen before...
So Vermont. Yes, I did get there. We ate dinner the first night at a Mexican place named Gringos. About half way through dinner some very attractive tall guys walked in, I guessed about my age. Needless to say I was checking them out, and soon realized that one was Barry Wicks and another Ryan Trebon... oh pro cyclists...
July 20 = showtime. My brothers race started at 5pm and the whole family started preparing. In the morning Mom and I scouted the areas on the course where we would be handing up waterbottles and gu. After we finished, we had some spare time to walk the singletrack. We didn't get very far. In the eyes of a track/road cyclist, the course was PURE hell. Walking, it was a death trap. Rain for the past week had saturated the trail to the point of muddy river. Rocks and roots were definately placed by the devil himself. A day of warm weather did nothing to dry the course off, and my brother headed out with the rest of the junior expert category to eat mud. Two hours later, my brother crossed the finish line after a solid effort. Catching his breath he said, "Its the hardest race I've ever done" and from the looks of it he was telling the truth. The Nature valley neon green kit was brown, completely unrecognisable. My brother was white as a sheet. The results claimed a 14th place, not bad for a midwesterner on the most difficult singletrack and conditions in the country.
The pro race on the 21st was incredible. The pros rode the single track like it was a paved road. Adam craig took the victory by around 5 minutes. Ryan Trebon double flatted. Jeff Hall, our local pro, came in at 8th (I think). In my personal opinion, he rode the single track smoother than anyone else out there.
July 22nd = day of revenge. You may have read it first on Ed's blog, but here is the one and only posted description by a first hand observer. Now I wouldn't say that short track is my brother's speciality, but the results speak for themselves. Thompsons are power riders. The hour before his 2pm race is a blur. My stomach was nervous for him. He did the routine. Warm up, ride the course, line up, visualize, swig some last water. National anthem, count down, GO!!!! From my vantage point on the course, I couldn't tell how he was positioned in the pack. Seeing him come around the corner in a comfortable 3rd position on the first lap was a relief. Team Devo tried to control the race. Devo's XC national champ Ethan something-or-another was the heavy favorite. The announcers didn't even seem to notice that Eric was comfortably handling the accelerations that Devo was dishing out until mid-race. Soon Eric and Ethan started to separate themselves - yo-yoing in and out of the main pack as Team Devo tried to keep contact. Then Eric mounted an attack that only Ethan could hold. Permanent separation occured. I couldn't tell if Ethan was tiring, but I knew Eric looked strong. The announcers talked up the mystery boy in green - and, suddenly 3 laps to go!!! On the last lap Eric attacked, and Ethan couldn't respond. At this point I was completely freaking out, blowing out my vocal cords, screaming as if it would make him go faster. On the last straight to the finish Ethan was nowhere to be found. Eric crossed the line, hands up, head back, completely solo. National Champ.
Exciting week. And I have pics. I will try to post soon.
Steph!
