I am not a senior! I'm not, I'm not I'm not!

I need to confess. I have been in denial for a long time. And I need to come clean and finally admit that I am a SENIOR. That is a hard thing for me to do. I still feel young. I probably need help coping with my denial!

About 20 years ago I discovered bike racing. I was 35 years old and the cycling federation called the racers over 35 "veterans" implying our years of experience. There were some fast guys in that category. I was not that good at road racing, I am a bit large to fly up hills, but I do have good endurance. I was good at mountain bike racing and in another off road event called cyclocross, I had a national ranking one year. I quit racing about 10 years ago.

Last week at the bread store(where I claim a discount for being a Se----), I noticed an add in the window advertising the Bremerton West Sound Senior Games. I knew of this from past years, but had never entered. They offer many sports including basketball, tennis, track and field, horseshoes, disc golf, swimming, cycling and many others. The criteria is an age of 50 or older. I started thinking this might be fun and the only thing I could do was cycling. So after an email to the organizer to determine that I could still enter, I submitted my entry fee(including late fee).

I researched the times for the last two years in the cycling time trial and knew I had my work cut out. These are some fast guys! A Tuesday practice of the 7 mile course did not inspire much confidence. My practice time of 21:13 was much slower than most of the riders in my 55-59 year category. So, I installed my old aero bars and rode a couple of days to make sure I could control the bike safely. I have not used aero bars in at least 15 years and never on my current road bike. I was surprised that I was stable.

Saturday, the time trial was at 1330 north of Poulsbo on the Big Valley Road. I was intimidated by the number of high end carbon fiber, aero shaped time trial bicycles. These guys looked formidable. And here I was on an aluminum tube framed bike with add on aerobars!

The participants started at one minute intervals. I started in the second group for the 55-59 year olds. I got up to speed and dropped down onto the aero bars. I stayed down on the bars all the way to the turn around. I was able to really keep my speed up and my breathing under control, but thought I should have been able to get to the turnaround sooner. The return is up a slight hill. This concerned me the most. I got off the aero bars and rode on the hoods to keep my chest open so I could get plenty of oxygen. I surprised myself by keeping up a very fast pace. I passed one rider at the top of the hill and one guy from behind passed me. I went back on the aero bars and stayed on them until the finish. I posted a 19:29 which was good enough for second in my age group. I was extremely happy. The guy that past me was in my group and set the fastest time of the day in the 16-17 minute range! He was one on a specialized time trial bike.

The organizers of the Senior Games sponsored a dinner Saturday night for all the participants. It was fun to meet up with some of the people I have not seen in years.

Now I can get back to being in denial: I am not a senior! I'm not, I'm not I'm not!

Website for the games: http://www.ci.bremerton.wa.us/display.php?id=679

After the time trial.
Great looking group of cyclists!

Craig(75-80 year old group) and I with our 2nd place silver medals.