Short and Sweet

After last weekend's extended stay, this one seemed short and sweet. We started things off with a bang though (pun) and drove down to Olde City to see Neon Dynamite at the Khyber. Don't be fooled though, that handsome guitar player isn't Seth Cohen, but instead my hometown BFF Anthony Rubbo. These guys absolutely rocked, and it was great to see him playing with a group that shares not only the talent but also the passion that he has for music.



Saturday morning brought much needed rain showers to area and luckily let me get some much needed sleep. Saturday night though featured the Iron Hill Twilight Criterium in West Chester. This is a huge race held through the main streets of West Chester every summer, and after seeing the crowds and speeds I think this will be one of my target races for next year.



The unique thing about this race is rather than starting at the crack ass of dawn, it starts right at sunset for a very different type of race. It also makes for neat pictures:



Unfortunately a race starting at 7:45pm means you don't get home from West Chester until rather late. Not good when you have one of those crack ass of dawn races Sunday morning. This one took Jamie and me back to Bethlehem for a short 12 mile oval loop. The pace was faster than normal since it was so short, but we were both feeling good somehow and managed to come into the final sprint with me in 4th and Jamie in 5th.

If you've been watching any of the early stages of the Tour you might see that towards the end of a flat stage the big strong guys come to the front and unleash hell in a mad frenzy 200 yards from the line. Unfortunately for me, such was the case on Sunday as well, and I ended up losing 10 spots in the sprint and finished 14th.

Data:
9 laps - 12 miles
30mins
avg speed - 24mph
top speed - 31mph
avg HR - 174bpm
max HR - 193bpm

It was a good race though, and I can't be bummed about 14th out of 34 so to celebrate we stopped at our team sort-of sponsor, Vegan Treats, on the way home!



The goodies this bakery produces are such a rare treat for vegans, and my teammates go absolutely bonkers whenever they get the chance to stop in. The cakes and donuts are pretty good though, and it's good to know that animals didn't have to suffer for them to be made.



Here's my post-race nutrition:



Luckily the donut wasn't my only post race meal. Julie and EJ invited us over for dinner!



EJ made some delicious chicken and eggplant parm (sorry animals), and we promptly devoured it. We also had some cookies from earlier in the day when Michelle and her mom decided to bake.

"They're ok, but I wouldn't enter them in a baking contest"



And finally the climax of our short and sweet weekend, the obligatory picture of other people's dogs: