Are you Superstitious?

Like most bike racers I'm superstitious. Well, I'm not really a bike racer, but since I'm pretending to be a bike racer, I must be superstitious as if I really was a bike racer. There are the standard race day rituals. Eating certain foods in a certain order, packing your race bag, etc. However, there are two big things for me.

The first is what coffee cup I drink my pre-race cup of coffee out of. It goes without saying that the coffee in the cup has to be the same, but I HAVE to drink out of the same cup.

You would think that any of these would do the job and normally they do.

But on race day, it has to be this one.

Don’t ask me why because I don’t know why. It just is what is. But trust me when I say that the psychological damage that can be done to my psyche on race day if I don’t have this cup to drink my coffee is untold. It’s even gotten to the point that I’ve started taking the cup to travel races. I did, however, forget to take it to cyclocross nationals last year and this would clearly explain my lackluster performance.

The second is what pair of socks I wear on race day.

Again, you would think that any of these would do the job.

I must confess that my superstition with socks is not quite at the level of with my coffee cup. There’s a couple pair in there that will work, but when push comes to shove and it’s an important race, only these will do.


The only known negative to these socks are that they’re black. It is well known in the European peloton that it’s not cool to wear black socks. However, I’m not in the European peloton and it seems to work for me. That is if being pack fodder in the local race scene is the definition of what works.

So, yesterday I was getting settled into my pre-race routine and rituals for the Koppenberg Circuit race. However, we had this big snow storm the other day. They like to call it a spring blizzard, but where I come from (Colorado) 10 inches of snow doesn’t meet the litmus test for a blizzard. Anyway, the snow made the dirt part of the course turn into mud and they had to postpone the race.

So instead of racing today, I just went for a ride. Here’s the gratuitous self-portrait. Bonus points to those who were on the ride AND read my blog (that’s one person) if you can tell me what’s wrong with this photo.

So, we headed up to Carter Lake and Bret and Chad made me hurt a few times today. This is really not the gentleman thing to do, but all is fair in Love and War.

Here’s a shot of Bret and Chad as they laugh amongst themselves after dropping me on the dam road climb.

All in all is was a good ride, but in retrospect it might have served me better to drink my morning coffee out of my favorite mug and don my favorite socks. There’s always next time.