Georgia Games Criterium Report

I went up to Marietta for the Georgia Games Criterium. Will was racing the Cat 4 race & I was racing in the Cat 5 race. The entire trip up there was in the rain, it never really stopped at all. We arrived there, the bikes were soaked, but we got our numbers and proceeded to get ready. I pinned my number on my jersey and then set my bike on the trainer to warm up. I was able to warm up for about 20 minutes on the trainer in a dry area, then went out on the course for a couple of warm up laps. It was still raining and by the end of the first warm up lap, I was already soaked. The course was in an industrial park. It was 1.2 miles in length and had some rolling hills. The uphill parts were on the front part of the course and the back part of the course was pretty much downhill. The race was 30 minutes plus 2 laps. The gun went off & we started up the first hill, the pace wasn't that bad, probably due to the wet roads, but I was able to keep my place in the pack. We did the first lap in about 3 minutes. Everyone was very courteous towards everyone else, there was plenty of space to race on as we had the roads pretty much to ourselves. About lap 2 a rider from Reality Bikes took a flyer and gained about 10 seconds on the pack. We let him stay out there for about 2 laps then he was reeled back in. The Land Rover & Reality Bikes teams had the numbers in the pack. I was still in the pack, watching how things were going. My bike computer quit working after the second lap, so I had no idea how fast we were going or what our lap times were. They gave us a count with 3 laps to go & I started trying to move up towards the front. We got the bell for the final lap & coming out of the final turn I was about 4th from the front. I thought I had a good position. The pace was picking up as we got closer towards the finish line, I was holding my own, only dropping back about 2-3 positions. Then suddenly another rider shoved me from my right side. I had to slow down to stay upright and that gave the rest of the field a gap. I tried my best to close it, but I couldn't. I ended up 11th out of 19 riders. The winner was from the Aaron's team. All in all I had a great time, did the best I've done in a crit for a long time. I was able to stay with the pack the entire race. By the time the Cat 4's started, the rain had stopped. They took off & Will was in the group most of the race. All of a sudden, he slowed down & said he had a flat front tire. I ran to my bike & gave him the front wheel from my bike. He used his free lap and rejoined the pack. He said the pace was brutal, they were going uphill @ 27 mph he said. He said he was in a good position coming out of the last turn on the bell lap, but just flat ran out of gas. He ended up finishing 17th, only .4 seconds back from the winner. He said he had a great time & looks forward to the next race just as I do.

Perry-Roubaix Race Report and Training Rides

Sorry it's been so long since my last post but I've been riding quite a bit lately. The weather here has been fantastic. I had trained as much as possible for the Perry-Roubaix road race, riding the course no less than 3 times before the race. I knew the hills would hurt, but I was going to do the race anyway. On the first lap we had a crash, not on the dirt like I thought, but on the pavement early in the race. I was towards the back of the peloton on the climb when it happened and it seemed to split the peloton up. I was able to gain a few spots on the dirt road before we headed downhill on the back part of the course. I guess I overdid it on the back of the course during the first lap because I paid for it on the second time up the climb. My legs felt a bit heavier, but I did make it up and survived the second lap. I was working with another rider on that lap and we seemed to work good together. Coming up to the final climb I was able to drop my ride partner. I saw 3 other riders ahead and tried my best to catch them. I gained some ground on the dirt road, seeing as they were playing tactical games. Once I turned onto the pavement again, I was about 100 yards behind them, that's when they started working together and pulled away from me. I crossed the finish line 27th out of 35 riders. Most importantly, I didn't crash and wasn't last in the race. The past week has been some good, hard training rides. On Tuesday, we did the CGC ride. We were all together till we turned onto Maynard's Mill Rd. That's when things started to get a bit froggy. Will and Jason took of on a flyer. I was able to and bridge up to them, but as soon as I got on Jason's wheel, Will took off again. I couldn't do anything about it and just rode my pace. We all got back together on 42 for the ride back into Byron. Getting closer to the county line, the pace picked up and I coudn't hang with them, but that's ok. I guess I did too much up front on the ride before then. I'm learning as I go, going to be a process as to when to be up front and when not to be. All in all it was a good ride with some hard efforts. On Thursday, we did the usual CGC ride. We had a nice tail wind on the way out and Eddie was really feeling froggy on the hill going to Haynesville. He went off on his own and I followed BK up the hill. I rode up the hill the fastest I had ever done it. Once we turned onto Ellis Rd, they picked up the pace and I had a hard time staying with them. I remembered that the wind on Elko Rd, was going to be in our face so I decided to stay back and save something for that part of the ride. They slowed up on Elko and we all were together again. I turned on Sewell with Jason and Jessy to do the extra 3 miles. It felt good to ride and my legs were actually feeling good riding against the wind. All in all I did 38 miles that day with a 20.4 mph average. That's all for now, my next race is the Cat 5 crit in Athens, Ga the weekend of the Twilight. That should be fun. Stay tuned......

Albany Race Report

The race in Albany was fun. This was my first race in quite awhile. The time trial was fun, but it was cold that morning. The temp was only 42 degrees, but it wasn't raining. My start wasn't the greatest, my bike kept skipping the chain, but once I got to the first flat part of the course I was able to upshift & find a comfortable gear. The course was short, but had quite a few turns in it. My time was 4:08 & I was 42 out of 53 riders in my category. Later that afternoon was the criterium. I didn't know what to expect, but was going to give it my best shot. The official told everyone at the start that if you were passed by the motor marshall, you would be pulled, but would be able to race the road race the next day. If you dropped out on your own, then you couldn't race in the road race. The start was very fast & I was doing my best to hang on. I completed two laps but on the third one I began to fall back with 3 other riders. On the back side of the course we were passed by the motor marshall & our day was done. I cruised back to the start/finish & then had something to eat afer cleaning up a bit. On Sunday morning was the road race. My category was racing for about 32 miles. The wind was a bear from the get go. The start was kind of a pain. One team had a ride go off the front early & they rode across the road blocking for him. The group was having a hard time keeping a steady pace due to the group up front. It was constantly speeding up & then slowing down. Quite a few of the other riders were beginning to get upset. The official finally told the riders up front to quit it & then the pace really picked up. I stayed with the pack as long as I could, but the pace was too high for me. I had to let them go in order to finish the race. I struggled with the wind riding solo, but I was able to pass at least 2-3 other riders. I finished the road race in 75th place. Overall for the stage race weekend I finished 60th out of 103 riders. I'm happy with what happened. I had fun, didn't crash, & didn't finish last in each event. I can only improve from here. I'm looking forward to my next race, so I'll be training harder & smarter know what to expect from now on.