Racing in the sun!!!

Hello everyone, figured I would send out a race report for my first race of the year. Nick was in the Pro/1 field so you should see his report soon.

So the Tucson Bicycle Classic began on Friday, with a ridiculously shot TT. The 3 miles, consisted of a downhill section to the halfway point, (which took only about 2 minutes to complete) the 2nd half had an uphill section at about 6%. Just before the finish came the last little kicker of a climb, which hurt like hell, especially cause you had to make it a few hundred more meters to the finish once you were to the top. If you had spent to much energy before the last kick you could certainly loose a good amount of time. Oh, it was also really windy, which made it a little more tricky. Anyway I finished 14th in my group of 40 or so riders with a time of 7:55. For the first time in the TT bike in 6 months I was not expecting a great TT, so I wasn't to unhappy with my result, but we always want to do better right!? Also I should not that pacing yourself for 3 miles is really freakin difficult.

Saturday was the 80 mile RR, the course was a 20 mile loop featuring a long false flat section which was into the wind, and a very hilly back section, into a false flat downhill, and finally a right hand turn into a section of new flat pave before the finish. Breaks went off the front periodically but nothing stuck for too long. I sat in, and didnt do any work, pretty much traditional me. However with about a K to go I took a flyer off the front, and made a pretty good gap, with only one rider on my wheel, with about 400m to go I looked back expecting to see the sprint quickly swallowing me up, but my gap was still there, but I was quickly loosing steam. Not wanting to give up, I charged ahead one last time. But it was no good, the sprint blew past me, putting me in 18th place for the day, and 13th in GC.

Today was a much shorter 45mile circuit race. It was a decently hilly course, in which we were to do 8 laps. Having done squat yesterday, and eager to break bad habits, I rode on the front of the pack. On the 3rd lap there was a sprint bonus of 15 and 10 seconds for 1st and 2nd, I began to pull on the front only to find I had made a gap of a 100m or so and 2 other riders were bridging to me. Once we were together we alternated time in the wind, but it became quickly evident that this was not going to work out. We got caught. Hmmmm, this did not come at a good time, especially because I didn't have long to recover before the sprint. I had hoped to attack after the line, thinking that the field would be wanting to sit up afterword. But my legs were not there and neither was my position. Apparently some guys had the same idea that I did, and a break went off, and quickly made a good sized gap. However once we hit the hill, I saw we were quickly bringing them back. But I knew it was time to do some hard work. Especially because Waste Management (the largest team there) had a man in the break, and they just oh so loved to get into the rotation just so the could sit up, and screw it all up. Actually come to think of it, there were only about half a dozen guys wanting to chase back the break, and the rest were content not pulling when it was there turn. This only increased my frustration and fury, so I focused my attention to one thing...bringing back that damn break in which I missed. I figured if I wasn't up the road then neither would they. Riders started popping off one by one from the break, until there was only 2 of them left, and only 2 laps to go. I could see two riders up the road, and the field was happy to sit, I saw this as my one and only chance to try and bridge the gap. I shifted down and went for it. A couple of guys went with me. If I wasn't going to make it then I certainly wanted to reel in the break as much as possible. But the field caught us before we caught the break. But our effort took its toll, and the gap was continuing to diminish. One lap left, and the break was still up the road, I had been in the wind for most of the day, either initiating a rotation (trying to) or finding myself in breaks. And now it seemed as though the break would stick, so with little left in my legs I was content on sitting near the front, out of the wind, and hope for a good sprint. But another WM guy decided it would be a great idea, to attack not one but twice!! What the hell, I wasn't going to let him go up the road, especially because his teammate was such a natural at blocking. So I chased him down both times, buhwahaha, I got him back. But now I was really tired, but I felt my efforts were well worth it. We were now nearing the finish, so I cobbled up some gels, and cranked down on my shoes. It was time to SPRINT! Ha if that's what you want to call it, I had poor position, tired legs and an up hill sprint to the finish. So needless to say I was sprinting for not a whole lot. I was 11th for the day, and now 12th in GC. Nothing at all that great but I felt good about my performance, and so I was not to worried about my final result. This weekend all said and done was a great way to get in some good training in the sun and warmth of AZ.