The 30 percent chance of rain turned into 100 percent by the time the 1, 2, 3 race took off. Heenan and I lined up together in a field of about 40 people, including Scott McLaughlin, Mike Scherer, Kevin Klug, and Mike Hemme. Needless to say, I didn't see those guys again except for when the course doubled back on itself.
The course set up at Jackson was different than previous years, and a lot of fun. Lots of curves and off-camber corners. And with the rain, those corners got greasy quickly.
I slid out twice to the ground. Once, of course, when I started chatting with the the xXx guy I was riding with. Duh, Paul. Ride your damn bike!
There were, though, three downsides to the race. 1. The organizers did not trim any tree branches and ran the course through low-hanging branches. Several times I was clonked on the head with a tree limb and another time scraped across the face by branches.
2. There were very few straight lines in the race and many sections that weren't "regulation" width. So it was very hard to pass and very challenging to get any kind of rhythm going.
3. The official pulled Mike and I on the last lap when the leader was about to win. We had perhaps a minute on him but we still got pulled. I wanted to keep riding, and since Mike was getting close to catching me, he definitely wanted to keep riding. Alas, I finished one place ahead... (no matter that he spent the last 36 hours putting our bikes together and gluing wheels!)
I felt great on the technical aspects of the race: cornering, barriers. The Orbea is an amazing bike. I am definitely lacking in punch power right now, more of a consistent diesel engine.
Some WFQ (Warloski Fun Quotient) points today awarded to myself. I was a little freaked out racing against cat. 1s and local pros. Once they left me behind, though, I just rode my bike. I was pleasantly surprised to feel so good technically.
Glad first race is done. Bring on USGP next weekend in Sun Prairie!! We're racing the 35 plus event, which is just stacked with national talent. It's going to be a slug fest, and I can't wait!!
And did I mention before that I finished one place in front of Mike today?
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Thursday, September 1, 2011
No Longer Around the Corner...
...it's now smack dab on your doorstep! Are you ready?
Just secured my front row for this...
Took a look this morning at the Gateway Cross Cup (in STL) UCI list and looks like they'll have an all-star line up under the lights - awesome!
Going over a tentative 'cross schedule for my first 8 days of the season and it has me at JY's Dogfish Cross on Sept 17th and 18th (Hermann, MO), at Gateway Cross Cup Sept 21st (STL), and then hitting up Manion's on Sept 24th and 25th (KC, MO). Nothing like baptism by fire... Would have loved to make the trek to Madison for the USGP, but leaving it to the 'northern relatives' to take care of business. The following weekend is Boss Cross 1 & 2 (Sat and Sun in KC), but no information on this yet published.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Stupidweek Day 3, 4 - Whitnall Park RR, Crit
Four races, four paydays! Well, yes, the fields have been small - we had 12 old dude racers today!
The positives are this: One, I am again starting to be able to climb hills. Both days had a short climb that hurt the legs after so many repetitions, and I never struggled except for the sprint.
Two, I've now done four races in six days. I'm tired now, but felt good during the race. I made a couple of efforts off the front today, and closed down a couple of break attempts. I did quite a bit of work today. So I am perhaps getting some recovery finally. Two efforts in races a month ago wiped me out. Now, I'm okay.
Progress. Cross season is getting close.
The part I need to keep working on is the closing sprint speed. I haven't done any minute-long interval sessions yet that will bring me to that kind of fitness. That speed will come.
Two races left to go in Stupidweek: Kenosha and Bay View, both completely flat. I'll try to get into a better position in the last lap and try to get the W. Kenosha is always a good time. I'm not sure about the Bay View course, though. There is one very sketchy corner and some construction at one of the corners.
But the racing's been fun in that challenging, what kind of legs do you have kind of way. Whitnall Park RR was very high on the WFQ points. Even today, a cit I've done a lot before, was pretty fun.
Two more races, and we'll shut down the road racing and start preparing for cross. And that is, after all, what matters...
The positives are this: One, I am again starting to be able to climb hills. Both days had a short climb that hurt the legs after so many repetitions, and I never struggled except for the sprint.
Two, I've now done four races in six days. I'm tired now, but felt good during the race. I made a couple of efforts off the front today, and closed down a couple of break attempts. I did quite a bit of work today. So I am perhaps getting some recovery finally. Two efforts in races a month ago wiped me out. Now, I'm okay.
Progress. Cross season is getting close.
The part I need to keep working on is the closing sprint speed. I haven't done any minute-long interval sessions yet that will bring me to that kind of fitness. That speed will come.
Two races left to go in Stupidweek: Kenosha and Bay View, both completely flat. I'll try to get into a better position in the last lap and try to get the W. Kenosha is always a good time. I'm not sure about the Bay View course, though. There is one very sketchy corner and some construction at one of the corners.
But the racing's been fun in that challenging, what kind of legs do you have kind of way. Whitnall Park RR was very high on the WFQ points. Even today, a cit I've done a lot before, was pretty fun.
Two more races, and we'll shut down the road racing and start preparing for cross. And that is, after all, what matters...
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