Coach Calhoun Charity Ride

I woke up Sunday expecting to have no energy left in my legs.  Saturday morning I participated in my hero's charity ride, www.calhounride.com, a 75 mile jaunt in the most underrated state in the nation, Connecticut.  Most of the ride was near Simsbury which provided beautiful scenery, loads of hills, and plenty, plenty of rain.  Prior to the ride I shook hands with another hero, Scottie Burrell, you might just remember him as the guy who had the best in bounds pass in Uconn's storied history.  Need a refresher? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4CxbjRXwhY   

Great morning and a great event, I had an absolute blast.

I learned a few things on this ride:

1)  In a down pour, my blue break pads paired with carbon rims make for little or no breaking.  That's an odd feeling to encounter at 42 mph and an eye full of rain.

2)  Campagnolo's racing bibs are my new favorite's I simply can't imagine a more comfortable bib, wet or dry.

3)  Larabar's Cherry Pie bars are the next level better than delicious.  Succulent?  That's an easy word to type but an embarrassing one to say.  Actually I'm blushing, maybe it's not so easy to type either.  I'm going to demand that the Studio carries these bars so I can eat one every Sunday, while I feel important. 

4)  As a first time leg shaver, I learned that a skinny pair of shiny, hairless legs makes me feel that much closer to being a real live cyclist.  After about 5 years of contemplating, I took the dive and can't believe I waited so long.  Before doing so I asked Joe Wignall for some guidance and he said, "just don't do it the night before a big ride, you won't be able to sleep becuase it feels so weird."  He was right, I tossed and turned all night.  Of course I was going to see Jim Calhoun the very next day, so I could have just been excited.  As an added bonus, for the first few nights of hairless-ness, I woke thinking someone else was in my bed.

If you can make it 22 seconds in, I'm up front on the left in Red.  http://theuconnhuskies.blogspot.com/2010/06/jim-calhouns-2010-charity-bike-ride.html.

This was the longest ride of my season so I expected to be pretty spent Sunday morning.  I woke up early, jumped on my still wet Elium SL and headed over to the Studio.