Work has been panic the last few days... getting ready for a wind tunnel test is a nightmare, especially the last few days before.
Plus it dosn't help that I'm of to Moab in a few hours, then when I get back, one day of work before MT Hood. The day after Hood I'm of to England for a month...maybe then it will settle down a bit...it better.
I raced SIR this week.(I still call it SIR although it has now changed names to PIR...but to me that is Portland).. My leggs were tired..but I wanted to have a go anyway. It was a small pack, how many times have I said that this year?
Nathan was agressive early, as well as Hone, but that is normal. At the end I managed to roll of the front break and hold on for the win, thats been a while and it felt good. To tell the truth, I might have "rolled" of, but after that there wasn't much rolling involved. It was a perfect situation were nathan was back in the break and everybody was looking at each other way too long... I was pretty sure nathan could beat them all pretty easy going up the slight hill for the finish...so this way we got 1st and 2nd.
I had planned to race Seward this week also, but as Kele and I opened the garage to leave it was raining hard...neither of us felt like spending the evening wet and cold...and to tell the truch we had way too much to do.
It's still hard to let go, you have this nagging feling that you are missing something good...
Friday, May 26, 2006
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
My plan
My goal of wearing my self out is working to perfection…ahh, what beauty when a well executed plan comes together. I’ve just about done every race this season, with the knowledge that I would be gone for the entire month of June. The plan was to race hard all spring, finish it all of with hopefully surviving Mt Hood and then of to England for a month of work, and easy rides through the county side.
This year I have been a lot better of resting during the week and therefore doing better on the weekends, when it really counts. The last two weeks though have been hard. Wenatchee, yeah that climb is a bit too long for me, Enumclaw…well I should have done better there…but after being 29th after the first two stages there was no point of being conservative and finish maybe in the low 20’s… no I threw caution to the wind and tried to bridge up to a three man break up the road. The fellow bridging rider and I never made it, we got close , but then suddenly as we came around corner they were gone…strange!
We got caught 1/3 the way up the climb, It took everything I had to hang on…but that was all my matches as they say. Next lap as soon as the road was thinking about going up I was of..just like that. I hung in there and finally after riding the reminder of the race solo finished 7min or so behind the main group..
The three man break we nearly caught was joined by another three and stayed away… oh well…maybe next time.
So back to my original plan… SIR and Seward this week…I still have something left in those legs.
This year I have been a lot better of resting during the week and therefore doing better on the weekends, when it really counts. The last two weeks though have been hard. Wenatchee, yeah that climb is a bit too long for me, Enumclaw…well I should have done better there…but after being 29th after the first two stages there was no point of being conservative and finish maybe in the low 20’s… no I threw caution to the wind and tried to bridge up to a three man break up the road. The fellow bridging rider and I never made it, we got close , but then suddenly as we came around corner they were gone…strange!
We got caught 1/3 the way up the climb, It took everything I had to hang on…but that was all my matches as they say. Next lap as soon as the road was thinking about going up I was of..just like that. I hung in there and finally after riding the reminder of the race solo finished 7min or so behind the main group..
The three man break we nearly caught was joined by another three and stayed away… oh well…maybe next time.
So back to my original plan… SIR and Seward this week…I still have something left in those legs.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Oh yeah...
Yeah... and I do this for fun.... what was I thinking........
Last weekend was another stage race....they are starting to blur together..
The highlights of the weekend was my team mates (Nathan) 3top ten placings and a 9th overall. A very strong ride to get 5th in the road race, hanging with the fastest climbers around...very impressive..
Red10's win in the cat 3 crit was very nice to. Finally, after killing us all winter, he has most likely started a winning spree that could go on for a very long time..
Last weekend was another stage race....they are starting to blur together..
The highlights of the weekend was my team mates (Nathan) 3top ten placings and a 9th overall. A very strong ride to get 5th in the road race, hanging with the fastest climbers around...very impressive..
Red10's win in the cat 3 crit was very nice to. Finally, after killing us all winter, he has most likely started a winning spree that could go on for a very long time..
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Longbranch
I've been saying all year that this is the good course for me...
The climbs are step but not long…I believe I have the power to get over these shorter climbs with the best.
A false flat after the climb to get separation, and finally a slight uphill sprint. Sunday’s field was considerably smaller then Saturday, maybe it was the rain that scared people of. All morning the rain was pouring down and it didn’t look good for us. 10 min before it was still raining, it wasn’t until 5min in, heading up the long gentle climb that we noticed blue skies ahead…and the rest of the race was all in sunshine…how did we get so lucky.
Early on lap two a break went up the road, not all that dangerous… but as Kenny attacked, to bridge followed my Emde I knew I had to go. If those two got up there, there would be nobody back here to chase… Kenny was going hard in full TT mode, when Emde and I finally managed to latch on a few hundred feet later we had a big gap back to the pack. As we started up the hill Kenny went hard but Emde and I stayed on. As we climbed the rest at a reasonable tempo, I was surprised at the crest when suddenly the bunch of riders countered our move. I managed to accelerate and hang on, Emde went back to the back group though. We were now seven riders. As we neared the top of the false flat Kenny attacks from the back and eventually bridges up to the front break. BRI and First rate now had riders in the break, and the ones in our group made it clear that they were passenger from here on… Axley had two riders (three when Emde caught back on ½ lap later) ,Tony from Broadmark and I were the only ones chasing.
During the following few laps we eventually caught and dropped most of the breakaway except Kenny who kept going. Axley did a good job chasing, making sure nothing else went of the front..
It came down to a 7 person sprint for 2nd… I did ok and ended up 3ed overall. I’ve noticed a slight drop in sprint speed this year… that is something I will have to work on…
But I was very happy, walking away with a medal, one better the last year, for the second day in a row.
I’ve now done this race the last three years, 5th the first, then 4th last year and 3ed this year… if this continues. …
This would have been a great weekend if it wasn’t for the fact that I lost my SRM head unit. This is a rather expensive piece of equipment. I took it of my bike for the drive home(so I wouldn’t loose it)…yeah that worked great…oh well… my theory at this point is that I put it on the roof of the car as I was lifting the bike up on the rack…and left it there.
Next weekend is the third “W” of the year, and it’s the hardest one. This year we have had stage races in Walla Walla, Winthrop and now Wenatchee. Wenatchee is the state stage race championship…a very important race, but sadly way too hard for me, climbs that last 30min….yeah not my cup of tea against good climbers… but I’ll sure do my best
The climbs are step but not long…I believe I have the power to get over these shorter climbs with the best.
A false flat after the climb to get separation, and finally a slight uphill sprint. Sunday’s field was considerably smaller then Saturday, maybe it was the rain that scared people of. All morning the rain was pouring down and it didn’t look good for us. 10 min before it was still raining, it wasn’t until 5min in, heading up the long gentle climb that we noticed blue skies ahead…and the rest of the race was all in sunshine…how did we get so lucky.
Early on lap two a break went up the road, not all that dangerous… but as Kenny attacked, to bridge followed my Emde I knew I had to go. If those two got up there, there would be nobody back here to chase… Kenny was going hard in full TT mode, when Emde and I finally managed to latch on a few hundred feet later we had a big gap back to the pack. As we started up the hill Kenny went hard but Emde and I stayed on. As we climbed the rest at a reasonable tempo, I was surprised at the crest when suddenly the bunch of riders countered our move. I managed to accelerate and hang on, Emde went back to the back group though. We were now seven riders. As we neared the top of the false flat Kenny attacks from the back and eventually bridges up to the front break. BRI and First rate now had riders in the break, and the ones in our group made it clear that they were passenger from here on… Axley had two riders (three when Emde caught back on ½ lap later) ,Tony from Broadmark and I were the only ones chasing.
During the following few laps we eventually caught and dropped most of the breakaway except Kenny who kept going. Axley did a good job chasing, making sure nothing else went of the front..
It came down to a 7 person sprint for 2nd… I did ok and ended up 3ed overall. I’ve noticed a slight drop in sprint speed this year… that is something I will have to work on…
But I was very happy, walking away with a medal, one better the last year, for the second day in a row.
I’ve now done this race the last three years, 5th the first, then 4th last year and 3ed this year… if this continues. …
This would have been a great weekend if it wasn’t for the fact that I lost my SRM head unit. This is a rather expensive piece of equipment. I took it of my bike for the drive home(so I wouldn’t loose it)…yeah that worked great…oh well… my theory at this point is that I put it on the roof of the car as I was lifting the bike up on the rack…and left it there.
Next weekend is the third “W” of the year, and it’s the hardest one. This year we have had stage races in Walla Walla, Winthrop and now Wenatchee. Wenatchee is the state stage race championship…a very important race, but sadly way too hard for me, climbs that last 30min….yeah not my cup of tea against good climbers… but I’ll sure do my best
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
One better
This weekend we had both the senior and master state championship road races.
On Saturday the 86mile now well known Elma course, and on Sunday for us older (how can that be me.?... I don’t how that happened… I was just 24 the other day). I think having sporting careers in several sports takes time… when I was younger it was soccer, then in high school, Under water rugby. In college I spent 4 years training twice a day, rowing, traveling all over the country. When that suddenly ended at graduation, I took up mountain biking for a few years during grad school…. So by the time I started road riding I was already older then most retired pros… I guess that’s how… it still amazes me though…Masters…no that can’t be right…oh well it could be worse...
Saturday a big field showed up to a sunny although slightly cold day. Although some of the regions strong riders were out of town, there was still plenty of talent present. I don’t know how many times I’ve done this course before, but it’s getting up there…this time though it played out like no other. Maybe it was the head wind on the climb, lack of a long cross wind section, …for some reason at basically stayed together the entire race, no breaks got more then 10-15sec…not one.
Lap 3 and on I expected something to go on the climb, well at least splits, so I got to the front to make sure I wouldn’t miss it… apart for some smaller splits, that eventually came back… …There were some unfortunate crashes, not big ones, but the injuries were a lot worse then expected. One rider broke a collarbone and ribs as he went down by himself. Another rider had a compound fracture to his ankle as he clipped out to avoid a crash…very very unlucky. … On the farm road with 2 to go, I had a front flat, as I looked back I couldn’t even see the wheel car, as it was still behind the split…I finally get a new wheel as two of my teammates catch up, they had caught on right before the crash, and then got gapped off again…but it was nice having them here now to help me chase back on.
Neil and Flavio pull though a few pacing me back up.
A few miles later I reintegrate with the pack, a bit tired but still feeling very good.
As we approach the farm road again, we gat stopped for about 5min to let an ambulance pass with a crash victim. This is weird, only 7miles to go, 30-40 riders left and here we all sit chatting…finish line at the top of the climb…. All the strong riders are still here, we have 5guys left…this will be interesting..
Valley keeps the pace up on the rollers before the feed zone. Is anybody brave enough to go for it? Nikos gives it a try, doesn’t get too fat though. This is a good finish for me…slight uphill finish, not too long…I know the final move must go 100m or so before the sharp right turn at the top over the “wall”. After getting squeezed out though the feed zone with 1km to go, I maneuver around the left, I know I’m too far back, so I have to get into the wind to move up front. Nathan is sitting 30feet or so in front of the pack; this could be a good move…if the pack waits too long…maybe.
I can feel the jump about to happen and I anticipate it and go, hard, over the wall, we pass Nathan who is on the inside ,I can sense two riders right next to me, Morgan and Ian…both trying to find a better gear as the road flattens out. Only three rides ahead of me…Kenny and Campbell are too far away…but I’m inching closer to Morgan……..the line comes to soon…4th..
Nathan holds on for 10th, Jason 12th…
One better then last year…
On Saturday the 86mile now well known Elma course, and on Sunday for us older (how can that be me.?... I don’t how that happened… I was just 24 the other day). I think having sporting careers in several sports takes time… when I was younger it was soccer, then in high school, Under water rugby. In college I spent 4 years training twice a day, rowing, traveling all over the country. When that suddenly ended at graduation, I took up mountain biking for a few years during grad school…. So by the time I started road riding I was already older then most retired pros… I guess that’s how… it still amazes me though…Masters…no that can’t be right…oh well it could be worse...
Saturday a big field showed up to a sunny although slightly cold day. Although some of the regions strong riders were out of town, there was still plenty of talent present. I don’t know how many times I’ve done this course before, but it’s getting up there…this time though it played out like no other. Maybe it was the head wind on the climb, lack of a long cross wind section, …for some reason at basically stayed together the entire race, no breaks got more then 10-15sec…not one.
Lap 3 and on I expected something to go on the climb, well at least splits, so I got to the front to make sure I wouldn’t miss it… apart for some smaller splits, that eventually came back… …There were some unfortunate crashes, not big ones, but the injuries were a lot worse then expected. One rider broke a collarbone and ribs as he went down by himself. Another rider had a compound fracture to his ankle as he clipped out to avoid a crash…very very unlucky. … On the farm road with 2 to go, I had a front flat, as I looked back I couldn’t even see the wheel car, as it was still behind the split…I finally get a new wheel as two of my teammates catch up, they had caught on right before the crash, and then got gapped off again…but it was nice having them here now to help me chase back on.
Neil and Flavio pull though a few pacing me back up.
A few miles later I reintegrate with the pack, a bit tired but still feeling very good.
As we approach the farm road again, we gat stopped for about 5min to let an ambulance pass with a crash victim. This is weird, only 7miles to go, 30-40 riders left and here we all sit chatting…finish line at the top of the climb…. All the strong riders are still here, we have 5guys left…this will be interesting..
Valley keeps the pace up on the rollers before the feed zone. Is anybody brave enough to go for it? Nikos gives it a try, doesn’t get too fat though. This is a good finish for me…slight uphill finish, not too long…I know the final move must go 100m or so before the sharp right turn at the top over the “wall”. After getting squeezed out though the feed zone with 1km to go, I maneuver around the left, I know I’m too far back, so I have to get into the wind to move up front. Nathan is sitting 30feet or so in front of the pack; this could be a good move…if the pack waits too long…maybe.
I can feel the jump about to happen and I anticipate it and go, hard, over the wall, we pass Nathan who is on the inside ,I can sense two riders right next to me, Morgan and Ian…both trying to find a better gear as the road flattens out. Only three rides ahead of me…Kenny and Campbell are too far away…but I’m inching closer to Morgan……..the line comes to soon…4th..
Nathan holds on for 10th, Jason 12th…
One better then last year…
Friday, May 05, 2006
Track
Track racing… I don’t know about that.. I like freewheeling too much.
Since I live pretty close the velodrome I thought I might give it a try this year. Not that I really need something else fill up my time with, but I thought it might be a good rest day activity. Now I’m pretty sure I’ll find out really quick that there is plenty of very high intensity followed by a lot of sitting around.
Anyway, I took the required track class a few years ago, and haven’t been on a track bike since. The last two Thursdays, in avoiding Seward park, and what I know will be too much intensity before the weekend I have been going to the beginners track training session. I hard part I noticed right away isn’t going fast, but slowing down… Once I’ve done my sprint of closed the gap to the rider in front, the hard part is not overrunning them, everything has to be planned ahead.. hopefully this won’t cause to many issues.
I don’t know when I will actually get out there and race…maybe once before I head of to England for June, otherwise I will have to wait all the way to July.
Since I live pretty close the velodrome I thought I might give it a try this year. Not that I really need something else fill up my time with, but I thought it might be a good rest day activity. Now I’m pretty sure I’ll find out really quick that there is plenty of very high intensity followed by a lot of sitting around.
Anyway, I took the required track class a few years ago, and haven’t been on a track bike since. The last two Thursdays, in avoiding Seward park, and what I know will be too much intensity before the weekend I have been going to the beginners track training session. I hard part I noticed right away isn’t going fast, but slowing down… Once I’ve done my sprint of closed the gap to the rider in front, the hard part is not overrunning them, everything has to be planned ahead.. hopefully this won’t cause to many issues.
I don’t know when I will actually get out there and race…maybe once before I head of to England for June, otherwise I will have to wait all the way to July.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
SIR
I haven’t raced at the Pacific raceways(SIR) in a while, so I thought I’d give it a try on Tuesday.
I was still really tired from last weekend, still need to catch up on my sleep and rest my legs.
The weather was great, good course that tuned out to me my favorite direction and still plenty of time to rest up for the weekend…why wouldn’t I?
Since I moved up north, the drive down there is a major hassle, I have to get though the worst traffic clog of the region, taking anywhere from 1h to 1:30h at best. I used to live 20min away, and it was a standard Tuesday night ride, now it involves planning and dedication.
I got there late and didn’t have tome for a warm up, except roll around for 5min…well the first lap would take care of that. I’m not sure what I was thinking, but I went hard the first two laps, a bit too hard maybe..I just wanted to get it going and make sure people were hurting in the back. It’s a bit different basically doing a road race in an hour. It plays out like the first hour of an aggressive road race with a final sprint before you know it…fun fun.
I stayed up front all race and made sure I got in all the front splits that looked even remotely dangerous. Pruit was really aggressive and probably started most of those…
My legs were not feeling especially good all, heavy and very slow, I didn’t have much of acceleration and I could swear that my back wheel was rubbing, I actually had to check twice…it was just too heavy. I guess this why I probably should have rested…oh well…as long as I rest the remainder of the week I’ll be ok….. I hope. I wanted to try and help my teammate Patrick to get some points and told him to stay on my wheel and do no work the last two laps. I tried to stay smooth and glued on Richter’s wheel.
½ lap to go I had to accelerate though a gap and lost Patrick. I was certain he could get back up, there was still plenty time, especially going down the S-curves. As we were exciting the bottom turn, Patrick come flying by and goes to the front, hmmm, not the best idea with ¼ to go…He keeps going and now I know he’s not going to make it and switch plans to go for it myself…maybe next time…don’t panic, stay focused and follow wheels. The finish line is about 200m on a false flat after cresting the small hill. You can’t afford to loose any positions going up, but it’s a bit too early to start sprinting. Just as we are about to crest, I’m still on Richter’s wheel, the sprint starts, two riders get a slight jump on the right and manage to stay ahead all the way to the line. I finish fourth,,, a bit disappointed… I should have done better…I just waited a bit too long , and my legs were just a bit too heavy to accelerate on that kind of finish..
Maybe next time I won’t go so hard in the beginning.
It was a fun night, I haven’t done that course in nearly 2 years… I forgot how much fun it can be.
I was still really tired from last weekend, still need to catch up on my sleep and rest my legs.
The weather was great, good course that tuned out to me my favorite direction and still plenty of time to rest up for the weekend…why wouldn’t I?
Since I moved up north, the drive down there is a major hassle, I have to get though the worst traffic clog of the region, taking anywhere from 1h to 1:30h at best. I used to live 20min away, and it was a standard Tuesday night ride, now it involves planning and dedication.
I got there late and didn’t have tome for a warm up, except roll around for 5min…well the first lap would take care of that. I’m not sure what I was thinking, but I went hard the first two laps, a bit too hard maybe..I just wanted to get it going and make sure people were hurting in the back. It’s a bit different basically doing a road race in an hour. It plays out like the first hour of an aggressive road race with a final sprint before you know it…fun fun.
I stayed up front all race and made sure I got in all the front splits that looked even remotely dangerous. Pruit was really aggressive and probably started most of those…
My legs were not feeling especially good all, heavy and very slow, I didn’t have much of acceleration and I could swear that my back wheel was rubbing, I actually had to check twice…it was just too heavy. I guess this why I probably should have rested…oh well…as long as I rest the remainder of the week I’ll be ok….. I hope. I wanted to try and help my teammate Patrick to get some points and told him to stay on my wheel and do no work the last two laps. I tried to stay smooth and glued on Richter’s wheel.
½ lap to go I had to accelerate though a gap and lost Patrick. I was certain he could get back up, there was still plenty time, especially going down the S-curves. As we were exciting the bottom turn, Patrick come flying by and goes to the front, hmmm, not the best idea with ¼ to go…He keeps going and now I know he’s not going to make it and switch plans to go for it myself…maybe next time…don’t panic, stay focused and follow wheels. The finish line is about 200m on a false flat after cresting the small hill. You can’t afford to loose any positions going up, but it’s a bit too early to start sprinting. Just as we are about to crest, I’m still on Richter’s wheel, the sprint starts, two riders get a slight jump on the right and manage to stay ahead all the way to the line. I finish fourth,,, a bit disappointed… I should have done better…I just waited a bit too long , and my legs were just a bit too heavy to accelerate on that kind of finish..
Maybe next time I won’t go so hard in the beginning.
It was a fun night, I haven’t done that course in nearly 2 years… I forgot how much fun it can be.
Monday, May 01, 2006
Still at it...
Winthrop
Another stage race. I raced in Walla Walla last weekend, and this weekend I'm in another small Washington town, this one squeezed in a mountain valley. One thing I like about bike racing is all the places you travel, if it wasn't for racing I would never visit small towns like this. When I first started racing back in Kansas, I always loved heading to small towns, which often combined a city celebration of some kind with either a mountain bike race or a criterium.
Although maybe I don't do much sightseeing or lounging around that fully immersing into the town would require, oh well
This was a new race this year, unfortunately the turnout was very low. The low turnout I believe was a combination of weeks of back to back racing, the two stage races the previous weekend.. and the local racing that could be enjoyed without having to do the 4.5 hour drive both ways, and get back home 10pm or later Sunday night. Too bad though because it tuned out to be some great racing with nice weather.
We started with a 10mile TT. It was a good rolling course with some hard hills, well in a TT after going full speed they were hard. I felt better and more comfortable on my TT bike then I have in a while, so that was good news. I still would like to be a bit faster. don't we all though. I managed to mentally stay pretty focused throughout.. still room for some killer instinct though, that I believe I had when I first started and have somehow lost. Time trials are determined so much by attitude and focus and less by strength and aerodynamics. Nathan took 3ed.. with an excellent TT, Jason and I were in the top 10.
The Crit in Twisp was a windy one, with dust everywhere. The biggest trouble of the night as trying to find some coffee, as all the stores closed at 3pm, we finally found a bakery/coffee shop with a London trained pastry maker, although tempted, I resisted to get anything before the race.
The small field and blustery wind made this an extremely hard crit, the first 25min were just about as hard as any crit I've ever done gaps opened up everywhere, every lap it seamed like I had to jump around riders to get across the pack. Jason got in the winning break pretty early and ended up 5th. For pride more then anything I jumped with two corners to go, but could not make it hold and got passed by two rides right at the line for 10th. Next time maybe this will be for the win I can't sprint with the best, so this is my best chance.
That night we were treated to a dinner at Kevin Ruf's dad house were we staying. We were very happy to see food, as we stumbled in with soar legs.
The road the following morning race was on a rolling loop that we would do six times.
It was a good course, but once again the small field make it impossible to hide. The fireworks started early and by the 3ed lap the main break was established, 6rides from 3teams. Jason and Nathan both made it. I missed out as I hesitated, why I don't know, for a second. I didn't was to pull the other riders up, so I sat on an rivalry rider and wouldn't pull though for the next few miles. Nikos and I than started to roll though, but not really helping the chase. I was hoping we would stay kind of close, and then at the opportune moment try and bridge acrossÂ…. It never really appeared.
The next few laps I tried to analyze the situation, two of the riders in this group where ahead of me in the overall standing. I need to beat them at the finish. I was feeling great and noticed that just about all the other riders looked like they were suffering a bit. With slightly more then one lap to go I went hard up the first hill, settled down slightly to look were everybody was. I saw that I had a gap and the riders were all strung out with big gaps, so I surged again and took of. Half way though the last lap I passed Nathan who was riding with a front flat. I though about stopping and giving him my front but we were essentially on the same points after the two first stages, and stopping would only result in loosing the lead I had on the group behind me. I was going flat out. I came screaming down though town for the last time, started up the last hill with about 1mile to go, I didn't let up until I was at 100m to go. I crossed the line for what tuned out to be 6th place. 5 min later Nikos came in taking the sprint for 6th,perfect, he had been able to sit on while the other had tried to chase me down; this is one way teammates help in a individual sport like cycling.
Jason ended up 5th overall, I was 7th, Nikos 8th, Nathan who had started the weekend so good was unlucky again, and ended up 11th in the RR and overall
Another stage race. I raced in Walla Walla last weekend, and this weekend I'm in another small Washington town, this one squeezed in a mountain valley. One thing I like about bike racing is all the places you travel, if it wasn't for racing I would never visit small towns like this. When I first started racing back in Kansas, I always loved heading to small towns, which often combined a city celebration of some kind with either a mountain bike race or a criterium.
Although maybe I don't do much sightseeing or lounging around that fully immersing into the town would require, oh well
This was a new race this year, unfortunately the turnout was very low. The low turnout I believe was a combination of weeks of back to back racing, the two stage races the previous weekend.. and the local racing that could be enjoyed without having to do the 4.5 hour drive both ways, and get back home 10pm or later Sunday night. Too bad though because it tuned out to be some great racing with nice weather.
We started with a 10mile TT. It was a good rolling course with some hard hills, well in a TT after going full speed they were hard. I felt better and more comfortable on my TT bike then I have in a while, so that was good news. I still would like to be a bit faster. don't we all though. I managed to mentally stay pretty focused throughout.. still room for some killer instinct though, that I believe I had when I first started and have somehow lost. Time trials are determined so much by attitude and focus and less by strength and aerodynamics. Nathan took 3ed.. with an excellent TT, Jason and I were in the top 10.
The Crit in Twisp was a windy one, with dust everywhere. The biggest trouble of the night as trying to find some coffee, as all the stores closed at 3pm, we finally found a bakery/coffee shop with a London trained pastry maker, although tempted, I resisted to get anything before the race.
The small field and blustery wind made this an extremely hard crit, the first 25min were just about as hard as any crit I've ever done gaps opened up everywhere, every lap it seamed like I had to jump around riders to get across the pack. Jason got in the winning break pretty early and ended up 5th. For pride more then anything I jumped with two corners to go, but could not make it hold and got passed by two rides right at the line for 10th. Next time maybe this will be for the win I can't sprint with the best, so this is my best chance.
That night we were treated to a dinner at Kevin Ruf's dad house were we staying. We were very happy to see food, as we stumbled in with soar legs.
The road the following morning race was on a rolling loop that we would do six times.
It was a good course, but once again the small field make it impossible to hide. The fireworks started early and by the 3ed lap the main break was established, 6rides from 3teams. Jason and Nathan both made it. I missed out as I hesitated, why I don't know, for a second. I didn't was to pull the other riders up, so I sat on an rivalry rider and wouldn't pull though for the next few miles. Nikos and I than started to roll though, but not really helping the chase. I was hoping we would stay kind of close, and then at the opportune moment try and bridge acrossÂ…. It never really appeared.
The next few laps I tried to analyze the situation, two of the riders in this group where ahead of me in the overall standing. I need to beat them at the finish. I was feeling great and noticed that just about all the other riders looked like they were suffering a bit. With slightly more then one lap to go I went hard up the first hill, settled down slightly to look were everybody was. I saw that I had a gap and the riders were all strung out with big gaps, so I surged again and took of. Half way though the last lap I passed Nathan who was riding with a front flat. I though about stopping and giving him my front but we were essentially on the same points after the two first stages, and stopping would only result in loosing the lead I had on the group behind me. I was going flat out. I came screaming down though town for the last time, started up the last hill with about 1mile to go, I didn't let up until I was at 100m to go. I crossed the line for what tuned out to be 6th place. 5 min later Nikos came in taking the sprint for 6th,perfect, he had been able to sit on while the other had tried to chase me down; this is one way teammates help in a individual sport like cycling.
Jason ended up 5th overall, I was 7th, Nikos 8th, Nathan who had started the weekend so good was unlucky again, and ended up 11th in the RR and overall
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