It's finally over. Going into this weekend I didn't have really high hopes. I thought I'd give it a decent effort and see if I could break a top 20. I was feeling pretty decent last year and broke the top 30 a couple times, so a top 20 would be an improvement on that. The fields were as normal for this weekend, easily over 90 guys in each race.
Here's a rundown of each race:
Friday night, Lafayette Square: I had just driven into town and went straight to the race. I got in a good warmup and was feeling pretty good. As the gun sounded and we were off I could tell my legs were feeling a little fatigued. It was my long work week, meaning little sleep and no riding. I did, however, have the day off before to make up for it. I also road the trainer for about an hour which is all I did for the week. It was pretty uneventful for most of the race. With this race being held in the darkness it usually causes a few wrecks. I stayed around the middle of the field for the most part. With about seven minutes to go in the race I saw a guy in the distance trying to go it alone. I really didn't know what I was thinking, but I decided to join him. We had a nice gap for a lap before we were both gassed. I still found myself hovering middle of the pack when there was a crash just a few bikes in front of me. My butthole puckered as his bike came right into my path. Then as I was about to crash into it the thing just bounced straight into the air and I gave it a karate chop out of my way. Needless to say I lost contact with the rest of the group as I almost came to a complete stop. I was looking forward to seeding it on my video camera, but do you believe it ran out of juice on the last lap?
Saturday, Tour des Hills: This was another basic four corner crit. Not much to say other then stayed about mid pack. I made a futile prime attempt. Attacked from about mid pack and already had one guy that got a good jump on everyone. Myself and another guy tried to bridge, but he did a good job to hold us off. A few other guys tried to make the bridge, but they failed too. There was one crash right in front of me. A guy tried to cut into my teammate and he just shrugged him off and then that guy went down. Maintained that position until the finish where once again there were a couple crashes.
Sunday, Giro della Montagna: The gameplan was to go after a prime. I usually do pretty good on this course on the slight uphill where I usually have no problems gaining multiple positions. That went out the window after the first lap. I got a light massage after Saturdays race and my legs just felt like crap. I guess I got them too loosened up. Now I maintained a position in the middle of the field, but it hurt a little more then it should have. I was slowly making my way up towards the front when my front spoke popped off. I shut it down, went to the pit and got a replacement. Luckily it was just prior to the five to go. Now I had to make up all those positions again. I ended up finishing in the middle of the field. This race was certainly harder then I remember it.
Monday, Benton Park: I had about four hours of sleep. The parents pull out bed and basement finally getting to me. My legs were really feeling fatigued and my whole body was really just spent. This race really left a sour taste in my mouth. I really liked the course, but with all the turns I could never find a good spot to get a little recovery in. It was pretty much on the gas after each turn, and there were 10 turns. With as bad as I was feeling I was able to stay with the main pack for the most part. Then with what I thought was about 15-20 minutes to go I gave it one last effort to stay with the main group, but dug too deep. I decided to pack it in. At that point I wasn't even the last guy, there were still another 10 guys behind me at least. I thought with the way the whole weekend was going I'd had enough. I rode back to the start/finish are only to see like 6 minutes left. Had I known that I propably would've found the extra motivation to at least stay in the race. Oh well, I still got most of the race in, but a thought I should've just finished it. There were still a lot of riders behind me formed in small groups that I could've latched onto. That'll teach me to quit a race. Next time I'll make them toss me out of the race.
Overall I was happy with the weekend. While I didn't get my top 20 it was good racing. I think the fields were as strong if not stronger then they've ever been. I got some awesome video footage of each race that'll be posting soon. Now it's time to get that cross bike built and prepare for the upcoming race.
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