Tour of Hermann...

Well, what can I say, it just wasn't my weekend as has been lately. The TofH got off to a decent start with the TT. I gave it a good go in the TT. I was satisfied with my performance and it was an improvement over last year.
After a subpar lunch at some dive restaurant we headed to the Crit venue. The battery in my car also died so I had to find jumper cables and then get my car jumped. Mission accomplished. We sat around for several hours waiting for our crit to start. It was about this time I wish I had a hotel to go crash at. I thought I would be ok, for the crit, but my legs were just not up to par. I stayed up late the night before to watch the Blues game and ended up not sleeping a whole lot so by the time the crit started I was already pretty tired. My legs were also physically not recovered from the TT. Anyways, the crit started and everyone started out like a bat out of hell. There was a huge downhill with a 90 degree right turn. I started towards the back and just couldn't maintain my position after all the turns. It was also wet out and after the first two laps I was off the back because of all the turns and not being able to bridge. The climb and my legs didn't help either. I ended up duking it out with several riders the rest of the way. My teammate also ended up in the same position, we actually traded spots every several laps. I haven't felt that bad in a race in a while. The only difference was now I felt that bad and I was well out of the mix. I ended up finishing the race though, got a massage, and then drove home.

The next day came the road race and I decided since I already paid for the race I'd at least show up, which is really about all I did. I got there and had just enough time to change and get to the line. I didn't warm up at all. I thought since it was a road race I'd feel better after a few miles. Well, I don't know what the hell I was thinking. The first climb came three miles in and I was already bad shape. Next, I actually did the first smart thing the whole weekend. I packed it in. I turned around, rode down the monster climb, turned in my chip, changed, and watched the rest of the races from the Dogfish tent. It was pretty demoralizing at the time since I was right in the thick of things in last years race.

I've come to the conclusion that I need to step up my game. Even if I did have some rest, my fitness level is just not where it needs to be for some of these races. I'm going to have to race myself into shape. Although my fitness is not there it's good to see a lot of my fellow racers showing good form. They've all stepped it up and now I've got to do the same.

As for my health, I go to get another MRI on my cervical spine. My catscan found a 3mm bone spur right in the area I've been having problems. My doctor doesn't think it's big enough to cause my symptoms so I go get yet another MRI. My other doctor also found an elarged tonsil, so I'll do a few more tests for that too to see if it needs to be removed. Wow, I'm pretty f'd up.

It's time for Blues hockey, it's do or die tonight. GO BLUES!!!