Ok…so the dreaded King of Jester! First let me say it was a ton of fun…even if it was less than 5 minutes worth of work. I heard about this race last season after it had happened and thought is sounded pretty interesting. This was before I had ever seen Jester Hill. Then sometime later in the season we had hill repeats scheduled on Jester and I thought, all right now I get to see what this is all about. Well, needles to say I wondered why anybody would want to race up such a hill…and then a year later here I am, racing up that hill! Jester village was essentially the “staging area” where all the cyclists, runners, and people with other means of human transportation congregated and warmed up. It’s really cool when racing events go down in Austin because of the high concentration of competitive people in one area. Some look calm, others scared and others look down right mad. (the last category always confuses me, but I’m sure they’re just concentrating). There was one area of the parking lot where about 20 trainers were lined up with riders warming up, turning the pedals, laughing, telling stories and creating a great vibe. If you’ve never been to a race it should be on the list of things to do in your life. The energy and sense of anticipation in any staging area is absolutely amazing. Lauri brought on of the trainers from the house and I warmed up for about 20 minutes after registering and checking out the scene. My Dad, Susan, Lauri, Steph and John went to check out the running TT’s while I warmed up so I pedaled with my thoughts. Susan had told me something that morning at my house that I kept running through my head, “It’s not about the finish line it’s about the race, so enjoy the race”. This was her Buddhist thought of the day and it helped out a lot. When the time came to move to the starting ramp I was ready to roll, and very excited! There was no defined interval of time between the start of each rider from the ramp, so when you were ready you plunged into the pain. The line to the ramp was, at any given time, 15-25 riders long and moving quick. We all milled around checking our gear selection, adjusting our jerseys and performed other trivial tasks due to nerves. The guy in front of me, whose name I can not recall, told me this was his second time to do the race and that he was counting on doing better than the previous year. Apparently he had to walk his bike up part way the year before, but was confident he would get it this year. I told him I thought he would do better, especially since this was not his first time and the ensuing conversation helped calm us both down. Finally it was my turn! I lifted my bike onto the ramp, got situated and HIT IT!! 3 minutes 14 seconds isn’t a long time, unless your legs are on fire! The bottom 1/3 of the hill was good. I passed the guy I was talking to and gained more speed. The burn was creeping. I knew it was coming and tried to stay focused on my breathing to stay inside my head. Just over halfway up the hill I passed Susan and Lauri who were cheering me on and keeping me going. As I passed them Lauri took off running next to me and was talking me through the climb. I can’t begin to explain how much this helped me! She was telling me I was doing well, climbing faster than most, and that my form was looking strong. Like I said, this was really cool of her to do. I remember as she was saying these things I started to vocalize my pain because the burn in my legs, and now in my lungs, was starting to elicit a response. I was talking, or something of that nature, in short choppy phrases which probably didn’t make any sense at all. Lauri ran with me until her legs began to give (she didn’t warm up, and pacing me was a spur of the moment idea). Just as she dropped off I hit the steepest part of the hill and in came my Dad. Out of nowhere I hear somebody yelling, seemingly at the top of their lungs, “Go Josh, go man you’re looking good!” I picked up the pace a little, saw the finish line and stood up to finish out the race! Crossing the finish line was total relief. As I got off my bike I wobbled around and almost fell. I thought this was hilarious and began to laugh, a race volunteer asked me if I was OK and I assured him I wasn’t about to pass out. Everybody made their way up the hill and greeted me at the finish line and I have to say it was absolutely wonderful. This race was really cool and I want to thank everybody who came out to see me race. You all made the race so much more meaningful. I’m happy with where I placed and am sure next year I’ll be even faster! -Chia