Mixed Bag

The days have been passing quickly as there is lots going on and lots to do. St. Pattys day came and went, and although I spent it watching TV taking an easy night(as I seem to every year this time of year) I made sure to celebrate the occasion a little bit.

A couple days later Josh and I said good bye to Tucson, as we packed up the car and headed for California to meet the rest of the team, and to start our first big race of the year, the San Dimas Stage race.

We were weighted down pretty heavy as both of us took everything we own for the next 8 months. It was so tight I couldn't find room for my pillow when it was all said and done so I had to hold it on my lap the whole 8 hour drive.

We arrived in California and are bunked up in some great host housing. The climate in California is great(so far) other than the smog, but its a nice change from the heat and dessert of Tucson.

The next morning we rolled out and met the rest of the team. I picked up my new race bike aswell, equipped with our new wheel sponosr Rolf Wheels, and Sram Force instead of Rival. On the scale, with heavy bars/stem/seatpost it came in at 16.5lbs. If I can EARN the Super Carbon Race wheels the team has for the GC leader, it would come in under the UCI weight limit I think. I also got to check out my new TT bike. Its not 100% uilt up yet, but is a pretty sweet rig.

With that we checked out the 6km Prologue uphill time trial. After a couple times up it, we kept on riding over the ridge. It was a little bit more climbing than most of us wanted coming in at 3 hours of 80% climbing, before an uphill TT but the riding along the ridge was some of the most beautiful I have ever seen. Its neat how a lot of bike races are organized to promote an area for tourism. Although the race brings the cyclists much horrible pain, its almost worth it to see such great areas. So far the scenery in California has been good to me.

At one point in the ride I was suffering and when looking around at the other guys they all seemed to be pedalling pretty swiftly. I couldnt understand what was going on as they were in their easiest gear as was I. I had fleeting thoughts that maybe my power was down? After the TT yesterday Dave(team director) told me he put on a 23T cassette(when I thought I had a 26, which was on the training bike I was riding before). Hmmm

The next day we had a light spin followed by some coffee shop time then some down time before heading over to the hill again to start the prologue. I was starting later so I had to wait around a little bit. I would rather go first just to get the damn thing over with.

When I was at Guadeloupe last year, the race there was huge. Lots of spectators, lots of organization and tons of riders. The race was a really big event. While warming up and riding around the race site I get the same feeling at this race(even though its pretty small compared to an NRC or World Cup) There are a ton of riders, organization and lots going on. I feel these are the types of races I want to be in, and feel I should be in. Its weird riding around seeing all of the guys in the mags you read about for years.

With that, my prologue was decent. I wanted to go hard the last part of the race. I took it easy for the first, third but think I went too hard in the middle, just kind of cruising in over the line unable to sprint.

As soon as I crossed the line I simply stopped pedalling. I unclipped and almost fell over not being able to get enough air. After a couple seconds of recuperation I was able to spin down the hill again. It was an odd feeling.

With that effort I netted an 81st place(of 150). Not great, but pretty much mid-pack. Being the first TT of the year its hard to know what to expect. I know I can do much better, but its a matter of getting into a rhythm of racing I think.

With that, we race this afternoon 140km(ish) on a circuit which is pretty much up or down it seems. There is 1, 13% hill in it, but we do it 12 times. We'll see how it goes.

____________________UPDATE_______________________________________

So......The road stage didn't go so well. I can honestly say it was the craziest fastest, sketchiest Race I've ever been in. The first 50km were insane. It was one of those races where you NEEDED to be in the front part of the race and if you stopped constantly moving up and fighting to the bike length in front of you, you found yourself at the back of the pack. The roads were super tight.

I thought Quebec racing was aggressive compared to BC racing, but man that race was insane. On the third lap, I had a fleeting thought that I forgot to give Dave my Emergency info before te race.

Being the first big race of the year it was a real eye opener. I went as hard as I could to maintain position on the climb, but after the 5th lap of going as hard as I could in the big ring, up a 13% climb, I just slowly started to slide through the pack. Once we crested the climb, I was still in the group, but you had to fight for your position on the downhill and once it ended a small gap formed in front of me, and I simply couldn't close it. From there I slid off the back of the pack. I don't think it was simply too hard, I think I burned way too many matches on the climb and fighting for position. Ideally you can slide in and out of the pack efficiently, but I'm just not use to that at this stage of the game. It was a real eye opener just how important pack position is.

From there I joined a group just off the back, but the pack steadily gained time throughout the race. We raced for the last 70km(ish) but were pulled going onto the last lap. 12km from the finish. It sucked pretty hard.

So now here I sit listening to the pouring rain heading out for a training ride in the mountains as we were pulled so I cant start the Crit. The worst part is that it shows up as a DNF, where we still rode hard to try to finish the race.

Ahhhhhhhh sucky...