Road trip!

Another great weekend in Madison! After sleeping in Saturday morning, hanging out at Caribou, we packed up and headed east. We arrived at our hotel and found that not only had they allowed us to change our reservation date via Expedia, but we'd also gotten a nice suite for the price of a regular kind! La Quinta - Spanish for "sweet!".
__We'd arranged to meet Renee and Dave for dinner at a gluten-free-friendly place Renee knew of called Bunky's Cafe. Lynne was really excited because they had an awesome selection - most everything on the menu was either gluten-free or available gluten-free. It's a Mediterranean restaurant with a good selection of Italian food too. We all had a great dinner and a good time! If we didn't have to race the next morning we might have closed the place down!
__Race day found me in a not-competitive mood. I just wanted to ride and have fun. We got lost trying to find the venue (as did others, as we saw cars with bike racks driving in every direction, Keystone Kops style), so we were running a bit late, and I we were annoyed. Brightening the day, however, was the espresso guy who comes to all the Wisconsin races (hint, hint). The course was fun, consisting of the only serious off-camber I've seen since the first race in Moorhead, a version of the pinwheel from Northfield I dubbed the 'paperclip', a steep climb, a small run-up, an oddly-spaced double-barrier, and the usual grass with short paved and gravel sections. Unfortunately, similar to the state championship in MN, the bleachers run-up was deemed too difficult for the C racers. As usual for Wisconsin, the women raced together, so Lynne and I were able to get pictures of each other and cheer each other on, which made it all the more enjoyable. Maybe they'll figure that out for MN soon, as they have for the road races. Plus that way I won't get girled!
__Lynne rode her best race this season. She was feeling good, was well-fueled from the night before, and was able to muscle up the steep hill each lap, so she was very happy with her race. I showed her how to handle a couple of tricky sections, and she was having a blast riding them during the race. Afterward we headed over to the gluten-free bakery and stocked up on pizza, beer, scones and other goodies, and we even scored the last pumpkin pie! What more could you ask for in a weekend? Okay, maybe hot tubs, but that would be pushing it.