Saturday 6 September 2008

Cheat To Win

... or to come third.  A credit card behind the bar can do wonders for the perception of a little social experiment in a cashless existence.  Zeb's eagerly awaited race turned out to be much later than planned and therefore not only was it in the gridlock of peak hour but also in the dark and in the rain.  Considered being a mere checkpoint but thought ... f**k it, you're only young once and the fact that the race was reduced from a cross town alleycat to an 'Urban Keirin' meant it didn't seem that bad.  Still, first time I've raced on Chevette since the removal of her front brake and that's never good in the slickness of rain soaked streets.  The course was simple and short - around Hyde Park North a few times - Elizabeth was packed with buses, trucks and cars (including several from the police and fire brigade) but Park and College was pretty empty, which meant kicking it was not a problem.  The SCC may have helped with the endurance, what little was needed, but the time out from the urban grind of day-to-day deliveries meant I wasn't really up for flying between buses that were coming together like the boats in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (do you remember that scene?  Where Indy and the girl fly between the two boats and the protectors of the grail who are following them get blown up when a tug boat knocks the two ships closer to each other?  Do you remember?  It wasn't that long ago).  Still, no ping ponging required - a bit of medean strip riding and a bit too much skidding - but hey, for right or wrong, I was declared third (which is better than second, which is better than first, at least I remember telling myself that sometime long ago) and that's got to be a good thing.  No need to explain myself too much - Southampton Paul finally got his jersey (still waiting for the right race for me) and I got drunk.  Don't completely remember how I got home but I think Burgerfuel was involved.  Hurrah.

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