We combined a race day at Volunteer park with Jett's Birthday party... weather wise it was a bit of a risk... but it worked, slightly cold but no rain.
Kele upped the birthday cake design from last year, with an even more impressive cake.
The race went ok, Kyle got in the break, and Andrew won the pack sprint... can't complain there.
The following day i raced down in Olympia, doing the masters race, thinking i would get home earlier, Kele had lots of work to do and needed help.
It was probably one of the wettest races I've even done, never stopped raining... i got lucky though and got in a two man break for the last 60 miles of so, with the only rider with a full rear fender...how good is that, either i was in the front, with no spray, or behind a fender, with no spray... so with that, and the fact we were working pretty hard i stayed relatively warm.
I was off to Walla Walla again this year, I've been doing this race since I moved out here, starting in 2001. The 1-2 race is a lot harder then it used to be, now four stages, and a full field of 120 riders. I was feeling good, getting stronger all spring, so i was eager to race, plus maybe we would have good weather...
However luck would not be on my side, mile four on a fast decent , after a 2 mile neural climb there was a crash at the front. Riders were going down on both sides of the road, i thought i was going to get though when suddenly two guys appeared laying on the road right in front of me. I hit them, doing a superman over them at 30mph, next i remember laying on the ground, trying to get as small as possible, to not get hit from behind.
Crashing at 30mph, and all i did was rip my gloves, a few scrapes and bruises here and there. I hurt my left leg quite a bit, must have landed on something hard, as i hobbled across the road looking for my bike. It looked ok at from a distance, not like Collin's that was laying on the road in three separate pieces..
I need a new rear wheel though, as a spoke had ripped trough the carbon rim. It was only my second ride on it since I got it rebuilt...going to be expensive, but that's the risk you take racing. I finally get back on, the pack is well gone by now...and we still have 60 miles or so to go. At this point i realize i only have half a saddle, as it must have taken the brute of the impact, a bit uncomfortable, but doable. The main problem though was my left leg... it hurt so bad could hardly push at all on the pedals. After a few miles solo i got caught by a Audi rider, and we rode the following 3 1/2 laps together. He could have dropped me at any time, and did more then his share at the front. The rain started soon after, and we both got really cold... We kept going, deciding to finish the stage... and after a long 3 1/2 hours we rolled across the line, just missing the time cut by 7min or so.
So that was the race for me, i would not be allowed to start the TT or crit the following day or the final road race on Sunday...not that i was sure i could with the pain i was having in my leg.
I could have probably protested the time cut, and got back in, since it was due to a crash... but upon further inspection i noticed by bike frame had cracked in two places, but a good idea to ride on that.
Even after icing my leg all evening i was hobbling around pretty bad, i could have probably done a TT, but a crit, with all the surges and jumps...don't think so...
I still had a pretty good weekend though, hanging out wit the guys.
It took about 1 1/2 for my leg to really feel better..
Masters State RR and senior state RR were back to back, Saturday and Sunday.. and we had great weather for both... I felt strong, especially on Saturday, got in a few moves, and attacked a bunch... in the end though, a few riders slipped of, and I was 2ond in a chasing group of four.
early on, a bridging up to Nikos of the front.
Sunday was 91 miles... a long race..wasn't feeling as good, but was more concerned with the energy level at the end of a race like this, as the finish was atop on the 1 mile climb. We got a guy in the break early, so all i had to do was jump on y move of the front and sit on, a lot better then having to bridge up there. On the 7th and final lap, the break slip, and our rider came back. At this point it was too late to try and bring it back or get up there, so it was now a pack sprint for 3ed.
I ended up 13th for the day, not bad, but not anticipating the sprint quite good enough and missed out on the final acceleration to the line.
I was still pretty happy though, it;s been a while since I've races this long...
I few years ago i was 4th in this race, just missing a medal, but that was back when i was training a lot more and was considerably stronger... so this result was quite ok.
