It's a Small World in Northampton....

My world became a smaller, and a better place this past weekend.

Mike and I went out to race the latest in the Verge New England series in Northampton. We were at the venue plenty early, and had just gotten back to the car after a pre-ride of the course. Mike was sitting on the trainer and I noticed that the car parked across from us had Ontario license plates - these were MY PEOPLE!

I looked, and the woman looked like Vicki Thomas - a 'cross racer from Ottawa whose story I have been following in Cyclocross Magazine. After solidly kicking my a$$ last year at Gloucester in the 3/4 women's race, Vicki has been on a mission to make it to 'Cross Worlds this year representing Canada. Being my usual shy self, I decided to introduce myself and strike up a conversation.

We started chatting about 'cross, racing and Canada. At one instant, I looked at the car, and staring back at me with the same look of surprise and recognition was Vicki's husband, Marc. Next thing Vicki and Mike saw was two grown adults racing towards each other for a huge bear hug, with words like "Oh my God" and "No way" coming out of their mouths. You see, Marc and I went to college/university together, and were in the same social circles, often hanging out playing cards or out on the weekends. We haven't seen each other since graduation, SIXTEEN years ago.

Marc racing at NoHo

It was such a treat to reconnect with an old friend, meet his wife (actually, that is backwards, but you get the idea), and catch up some on what has happened with our lives in that time. Marc also races in the Master's 1/2/3 race, and was on the line with Mike and our other friends.

So, I added two more cheering victims this weekend, and certainly hope to stay in touch with an old and new friend! We'll get to see them again at the remaining Verge races this year, and I'm looking forward to it.