Gateway Cup Start/Finish line

I left work early today, because last night’s chilly Mac was still churning below. On my way home, I swung by REI and Whole Foods and once home, skipped lunch for Tums which then turned it all around snicker-snack quick and I launched towards the park. It was a balmy 90 °F. The park was pretty empty. I did one turnaround and got caught at the light at Forsyth and Skinker. While I was waiting there, a bevy of beauties rode past me on their green. It was a women’s racing team, in town for this weekend’s Gateway Cup. The dozen of them were all in matching red and white poke-a-dot uniforms. They looked cute as they rode away from me, I still being stranded at the light. They were a quarter-mile ahead of me when my light turned green. Try as I might I couldn’t catch up to them and they receded into the distance. I had dreams of making a fool of myself, by first racing ahead of them all and then shooting a selfie with them as the scenic background, but it was all for naught, except as a workout.

Anne got home from school not too long after I finished my jousting at windmills. We soon drove downtown to Lafayette Square, site for tonight’s Gateway Cup bike races. They’ll be in town all holiday weekend folks. Lafayette makes for the perfect crit (short for criterium) race venue. Perfectly square, a quarter-mile on the side, it makes for a mile long race track. Before we left for the night, some of the faster racers were peaking to 45 MPH in the straightaways. Bike-mates Tom and Audrey own one of the 19th-century townhouses that circle the square. Really, they surround the square in more of a rectilinear fashion. Just saying! They graciously throw a lawn party, with the best of floor shows, the bike races. We had dinner with Don and DJ at Square One, which had a great spare tips special. It was great catching up with them again. Then we decamped to Audrey and Tom’s to watch the races and kvetch.