Day 2: Cascade Classic

 After sleeping in and enjoying a typical morning breakfast of steel-cut oats and copious amounts of coffee we all kitted up (slang for putting on our color-coded spandex costumes) and rolled out the door in search of a hill climb. Yesterday we rode past a nearby butte with a promising ascent, so we located it on the horizon and quickly found ourselves at the base - Pilot Butte Scenic Viewpoint. 

I think it took us around 7 minutes to climb to the top, but I can't upload my Garmin until we get back to Seattle so it's "unofficial" for now. Kat finished with Chris and Rob a little bit behind Ted, Nate and myself, but she had her Strava on and officially has the fastest women's time to the top at 8 minutes and change I believe. Ted is notorious for setting a slightly uncomfortable pace uphill, and since we are at 3500' above sea level, I figured I'd see what it felt like to go a little hard when the air is thin - a slight understanding of what racing down then back up Mt. Bachelor tomorrow afternoon is going to be like. It sucked at first but then it mellowed out when I started to control my breathing. See?

A proper 580' climb only 3 miles from our house. Beautiful. 

After we finished strolling around town and picking up our race info packets for the weekend we headed across town to drop by a BBQ we were invited to by my life homie, Mike Roecklein. He is the Director/ owner of Stage 17- Cylance and apparently has hosted this Cascade Classic BBQ for a 2nd year in a row where little fish bike racers like us can eat, drink and shoot the shit with the top dog fast guys. Today his friends on Team SmartStop (Domestic Pro team) and the Bear Development team (under 23yr old) were invited along with our posse. We really did feel like little fish. However, everyone was super nice and didnt make us feel like minions. Also, we got to stuff our guts with delicious fajitas as we lounged in the green grass of their host house's beautiful backyard. Such a great day to kickoff what is about to be a brutal weekend of racing. 

Did I mention we went swimming in the Deschutes River this afternoon too?

 Check back tomorrow for a race update and what I've been cooking up in this kitchen on our small grocery budget.