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Hey I am a thr33 now on road.



Just in time for the road season to be over.



This is good so I have some prep before I get smoked next year.

Race sick.

Two weeks with out a race and I am suffering from withdrawal. Although the 4th of July race was missed because of complete failure in planning on my part. I am still in need of a dose of racing, preferable road.

I just want a chance to redeem my confidence.

Not to mention the Tour has given me a case of cycling fever on top of everything else.

Funk.

My training has not been as consistent as I'd like.

My tactics have been incredibly stupid.

My stress level has risen dramatically.

Results are not where they should be.

Correlation?
Most definitely!

I need to start stepping/pedaling up to the plate/top
and
stop the complaining.

Watertown is next followed by Downer.

Lets see what will happen.

Prep

Broken car 10 min from race, running away from the start because I forgot to pin myself, cassette that made the chain skip on the big climbs. All of these factors kept me away from the state race, but I still participated. 6th overall even though I was looking for podium. Then again aren't we all? State Crit championship on Saturday. This time there will be a little for preparation.

I am moving on

My last post I mixed up the weekends and the 2 crits are this weekend. I am still doing both and am extremely stoked. Yesterday I actually finished up with my base mileage and am planning to throw some intervals in the mix. I would start today, but work and moving has me in a head lock. That is right I am moving to Fran......Bayview. This will add a few good miles to my rides north, but maybe I can use it as a cool down.

Either way it doesn't matter as long as I am on the bike. I think there might be a mountain bike in my horizon too.

2 Crits are better than 1.

This weekend Cafe Hollander criterium followed by Chiropractic Criterium. Thursday marks the start of Summer vacation and if I put in another 150-200 next week I will be in line for starting intervals. I have a feeling these next couple of days may be longer than expected. Damn you chemistry and Anatomy & Phyisicology, see you both in hell!

40 Miles to Baraboo Crit

Well if you were at the Baraboo race on Saturday you knew that it was diffenetly not a criterium after viewing the course lay out. I left with teammates/friends Jon L and Pete A at 5:30 am after going to bed a little after midnight. I had a feeling when I woke up that I was going to have a poor race due to my lack of sleep. I had put in 40 miles on friday with friend Patty Diamond under the impression that the crit would only be 30 min. Although my knowledge of the race was not spot on I had a feeling that I was not going to be as strong as I usually am due to the lack of sleep, but I was only planning on racing for 30min so I was not too concerned.

When Pete and Jon picked me up I was told that the race was ranked top 10 in a cycling magazine for best road races in the country. After this brief conversation everything began to sink in. I wasn't going to let it bog me down because I knew that most of it was psychological anyways or so I told myself.

The race was ranked top ten for a good reason. The course was beutiful with lots of hills and a field of 61 it made the riding a bit more enjoyable. It was the type of race that separated the people that had aquired their base and those of us who were not quite there yet or maybe just not as serious. The field split on the second hill of the first lap. Luckily I stayed with them and then people began to fall of quite fast. On the first climb of the second and last lap I hit the wall. I was contemplating on walking up the hill knowing that my 9-23 was an extremely poor choice for this course. I put on the hussle after finally making it to the top cacthing two other riders. One was having technical difficulty and the other admitted that he was bad at climbing. Judging by his body type I figured half as much. We all worked together and ended up picking up 4 or 5 other people including Jon L. We all worked together and put the hammer down until the last climb came and I bonked once again. I soon lost them to the horizon but once I was over the crest they soon began to reappear. I ended catching two that were in the group who fell off and then strolled in for a disheartening solo finsh.

Excuses aside I now realize how important race preparation is. I know where my faults were and most of them were made the day prior. Next time I can assure you I will be getting to bed much earlier, double checking the race length and gear my bike accordingly, and last but not least be sure to not over due it on the bike the day before.

H.C.C. race is next weekend and I will be working it, which is usually a lot of fun. I am not sure if I will be able to ride since my race starts at 4 and I am not sure if I have to work or not. Either way I think it will be a good time.