Races 8, 9, and 10........

The last three races I've done I've DNF'd, pack finish, and DNF'd. This is not quite the season I've been striving for. Since I moved up to CAT 3's I have yet to be in the same form I was back then. I used to be able to mix it up and go on attacks back then and be competitive. Nowadays the struggle is just to not get dropped. While there is additional stress of working and commuting to Kansas City I refuse to let that be an excuse. I think my biggest downfall is my lack of races, lack of pre race preparation, and being about 5-7lbs. over my ideal weight. i know that doesn't seem like a lot, but for cyclists, that can be a lot.

My last race was the Hot as Hell O'fallon Grand Prix road race. A 75 mile tour around southern Illinois. It was in the high 90's and it just really felt like an oven. By far the highest temps I've ridden in this year. I figured this race would be a race of attrition since there were no real kickers or places to get a split in the peleton. The race started out easy enough. It was pretty much a parade lap. When we came into town up the hill I was up in front with no issues on the climb. I ended up being the first one to take a feed. I actually had a good gap and could've rolled off the front with a good lead, but I knew I didn't have good legs and I had Denny and Brian's bottles. It didn't matter. We were neutralized shortly after the feed because a bunch of guys were crossing the center line and one guy was dq'd. I ended up staying out in front for most of that lap. I even rolled off the front to see if anyone wanted to follow to catch the few riders off the front, but nobody followed so I drifted back to the peleton. Everyone was just content in staying put with the heat........so I thought. As I drifted back to the middle a few attacks started and there was a group of seven, then everyone turned it up and I had to go. My only problem was my legs would not go into overdrive. I had too much lactic acid in my legs from the previous weeks training and not giving them some rest. I paid for it, I couldn't latch onto the effort made by Brian and I was shot out the back. That was the race for me. I rode with a few other guys, and caught and dropped a few more. There were two Chicago South Wheelmen guys riding really slow. Later, I found out that they were in the lead break and one of them rode onto shoulder and caused a pile up. One of them was Brian who went over the handlebars. Luckily he was ok and stayed in it to get a top 10 along with Denny. As for me, I really thought about doing another lap, but with as hot as it was I just called it a day and chalked it up as a training race. The fact that I rode three hours two days before the race didn't help. I really need to start being smarter in my training and learn to take it easy the week before big races. I've got a new approach for next weeks race at Ste. Genevieve.