Ketchum, Idaho

It was raining steadily last night in Stanley. I was anticipating a cold and wet stage for today’s ride into Ketchum, but it looked like we might catch a break this morning when I got up around 6:30 AM. It was great spending 3 nights in the same room, but a venue change today meant we would have to pack our bags and get out of Dodge. Strangely enough, all the gear we lug around had managed to spread itself throughout every nook and cranny of our room at the Mountain Village Lodge. The steady supply of snacks and refreshments we had rounded up to fuel our daily web-update mania had also scattered about and added a nice, well-used, well-loved patina to the furniture in the room.

Not wanting to face the Big Clean Up right away, I opted to go to my favorite foodservice establishment in Stanley, the Stanley Bakery. They have really great stuff: sourdough pancakes with blueberries on top, amazing oatmeal with an array of condiments that would put an Indian curry house to shame, cinnamon rolls, and any number of tasty baked goods. On this morning, I was seriously jonesin’ for their Sunrise Frittata – a veritable cornucopia of savory breakfast ingredients handcrafted together with eggs, potatoes, and secret ingredients, with some nicely zippy salsa, sour cream and guacamole on the side. I awoke with a serious pit in my stomach that required immediate satisfaction, which meant that the Stanley Bakery was the number one item on my agenda for the morning.

When I arrived, the place was hoppin’. There were representatives from the British National Team, Canadian National Team, Saturn, and a few touristas who didn’t know what to think about all the bicycles tooling up and down the road. I ran into Mike McCarthy, who is wrenching for the Intermountain Orthopedic team, and has been known to make a few adjustments on my bikes down at World Cycle in Boise. We chatted about yesterday’s TT. There were 4 riders who didn’t make the time cut yesterday, but were invited back after calculating their time out was a matter of seconds. One of the riders was on Mike’s team and we were discussing the emotional roller coaster and bittersweet aspect of such a day.

I had run into Robynn Browne, the race Director of Operations right when the decision was made yesterday. I asked her who was tracking down the 4 riders in question. Turns out she was the person who got the job of letting them know they were back in the race. Sounded like a nice sort of job to have. A lot better than the person who had to tell them they were cut in the first place.

I once described Robynn as a kind of big sister who seems to have the uncanny ability to know exactly when to either give you a hug or kick you in the backside. Going into my third year with this race, It’s been interesting to see how much I’m learning about the logistical nightmare that faces the organizers of an event like the Women’s Challenge. Robynn is always in the thick of it, making things happen and providing the right amount of information and motivation to keep this big machine churning. We’ve had a few technical issues with the site this year. (Actually I hope you’ve noticed, because it means you’ve been spending some quality time with us.) Robynn is the lucky recipient on the other end of the info email address on the site. Rather than inundate us with the full tilt deluge of email comments, she cuts to the quick and let’s us do our job. There’s probably some sort of best-selling management book concept in there.

I pulled a page from Robynn’s yet-to-be-written book this morning at the Stanley Bakery. With the full-court press of all the members of the 3-Ring Cycling Circus trying to leave town, the 3 or 4 folks manning the shop were getting slammed to the nth degree. Another secret from my past is that I once was part owner in an espresso bar catering and management company and spent more than a few pulls at the espresso machine. I asked if it was cool if I helped out. The owner said “go for it” and so I helped push through the morning rush of caffeine addicts. As any barrista or bartender (another previous job) will tell you, you need to have a system to get drinks out to thirsty or decaffeinated souls quickly. So I temporarily trashed the existing protocol and started my own, which was essentially asking people “what did you order?”

In the end, it was fun and, in my own small way, I helped to keep this year’s race on track. Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of the day came as I was walking out of the bakery. The young man whose job I temporarily took offered to split his tips with me. Without a doubt, the most heartfelt thanks I’ve had in a long time and the most satisfying $3.25 I’ve earned in years.