Kevin and I were sharing the room with Ali, her friend Kurt, Stefan, and another Kevin. I was getting hungry now; we had jumped into the motel pool for quick before dinner swim. Kevin B. had a great idea: to eat in Napa at a vegetarian restaurant he found on the Web under "Best of Napa" Ha! It may have been the best at one time, but it was now closed down and changed into a dress shop or something. Damn! It had taken about 35 minutes to even find the place where it should have been.We prowled through the streets of downtown Napa, 2 carloads of skaters, looking for a good "night before the race" dinner. I really wanted some pasta, and sure enough, we found ourselves in front of Pasta Prego, a fine Italian restaurant in a little mall. I had the ravioli, so did Dutch. Kevin had some baked salmon, and this dinner was just great. Some of the best Italian food I've eaten since leaving New York in 1980. We even had dessert, figuring we would need the energy for the morning. Crme Brulee, gelato ice cream. Very delicious. Lots of good bread, too. Carbing up, you know. The dinner was remarkable, and it was great to eat together with our skating group/roommates. I'm sure this experience helped keep us energized through the skate.
Well, full, and tired, we were ready to sleep. Sleep? Where would we sleep? We had six people in a two-bed room! We started placing our stuff in different areas of the room. Ali was cleaning her bearings, and the room had a fresh and lemony scent for a while. While people did their nightly thing, and most of us got our skates ready for the race, I lay down in a bed and began to get ready for sleep. Other people grabbed a bed or a spot on the floor and started to relax. Sleep was a long time coming; we stayed up till about 1:00 am watching a great old Sinbad movie. We couldn't watch the whole thing; we were all too tired. I slept fitfully, dreaming of the next day's skate. Intense, very intense dream. I had been preparing for this, my second long distance race - ever! I bought new competition bearings and new wheels. I
had been doing the 17 mile Lake Merced Loop in San Francisco almost every Sunday. (In fact, I liked that loop so much I organized the Saturday skating of it!) I was planning on cutting hour off my previous time. So, in the dream, I was skating along - really fast. So fast, I could see the seasons change! It went from fall, to spring, summer, and as it started to get cold in winter, I woke up. I was skating faster than time! Wow, what a dream. In reality, I only knocked off about 7 minutes. But I skated much easier, with much less pain, that the first N2C. Technology and training really paid off.
Early Saturday am. We begin to rise, and I broke out my Hong Kong tea gear. A camper stove, the tea, and a pot. Some sweetened condensed milk. In a few minutes, we are up and chowing down on my now-traditional pre N2C breakfast - Hong Kong tea and Chinese pastry. Winter melon cakes, moon cakes, mostly sugar and fat. But good! And good for the race energy too. The starting line, listening to the cops, much more mellow than in June. A short and sweet warning, to stay to the right of the white line or get cited. That's it, we're off. Oh, forgot to mention, it is cold out. COLD! Not bitter winter New York cold, but still - it is much colder than most San Franciscans are used to. Some people are complaining of frostbite at the starting line. I line up towards the beginning, hoping to keep up with the "fast" skaters. We begin; I am in the third group to leave. I skate with Kirby and Kaleen for a while, looking for someone about my speed to draft with. Can't find anyone, so I am off - against the wind alone! I skate like that most of the way, except for a short stint skating with the Glen and
Gary train. About 6 or 7 of them, usually led by Glen, skating by fast! Gary saw me skating, and called out "Hey James, join us"! I did, but I couldn't keep up with them for too long. I watched wistfully as they drifted further and further away.
I skated along, alone, wondering how long I had been at it. Felt longer than my dream, for sure. And then, I saw the mile marker on the road, telling me I had 5 miles to go. All right! I cranked it on, and finished strong. A short way from the finish line, Kevin was there with the camera, snapping photos of my "inspired finish". Inspired it was, too! I pushed so hard, my legs practically collapsed. They didn't though, just felt like they would. I finished, and cheered the other skaters who came to the finish line after me. It was a grand skate, and we made our way to the park for the finish line BBQ chicken and potato and pasta salad feast. D. gave out prizes for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers in the various categories. Imagine my surprise, when the last person awarded with a prize (a very cool skate light set!) was yours truly - for making a little "extra" effort and doing the entire race using a prosthetic leg. And now, life becomes simply existence,
until the next N2C!
October 24, 1999. Kevin, Dutch, and I made our way to the beautiful Napa to Calistoga 24-mile roadskate. This time Dutch drove us in her new car, a sporty little thing. We were on our way to join 101 skaters and race along the 24-mile course on the Silverado Trail from Napa to Calistoga. This roadskate runs through some beautiful country, vineyards, and cattle farms. The course is like the valley, gently rolling hills. We had a fine drive up, except for getting lost on the way to Kevin's house. For some reason, Dutch was much easier on the brakes with her car, than with mine. Hmmm. Well we skipped stopping off at Burger King, although they really wanted to. Dutch got settled in her room, and Kevin and I met the rest of our room sharers who had ridden up with Stefan. We decided to meet up at around 6:30 and go
for dinner.
Back to the Photos