Red Carpet Treatment

Last Tuesday I received a phone call from the director of the Nor-Cal powerhouse team, Owens Healthcare. The call went something like this:

OHC: Interested in racing the state championships this weekend? If so call me back... oh yeah, not the CA state championship.
CJ: Not the CA... hmmm I sure hope it is Hawaii.
OHC: Well, not quite Hawaii, but close. Meet me at the airport at 6:45pm.
CJ: The airport?!?
OHC: Yeah the airport. Hanger #... Here's the code.
CJ: Okay.

I rolled up to the airport to see the new OHC Sprinter Van. A nice ride in normal circumstances, but just beyond the van was our mode of transportation for this trip... yep, the team plane complete with a pilot who loaded my bags. We hoped in the plane and a quick two hours later landed in Montana. Not just anywhere in Montana, but northern redneck Montana. As we rolled up to the hanger for the evening, some guys came running toward the plane. I was like what the heck is going on? Then I realized what was happening, they were rolling out the red carpet for us! Yeah, that's how I roll.

On to the race. Smallish field. We set out to try and get Mr. OHC some upgrade points. About 5 miles in, I attacked trying to set something up and it stuck. Oh boy, not what I wanted. 55 miles solo. People were yelling, "Go Floyd." And I was thinking to myself, well actually I was in the hurtbox so I wasn't thinking anything. But, if I had been thinking clearly I would have packed 71 water bottles like Floyd did on his epic stage, silly me. After I was caught, I set out to help Mr. OHC who ended up 2nd. Not a bad result.

After the race I got a phone call from Targetraining saying they would like me to race Tour de Toona with them. So we jetted, literally, back to Redding. I booked a flight out for the next day and after 20+ hours of travel, three cancelled flights, and a shuttle ride I made it to Altoona. The TT guys are pretty cool and seem to be riding well. I'll let you guys know how the race progresses.