So I did the Prairie Steamer race on Saturday hoping for a good ride, thinking it would be flat compared to Mt. Hood.  I guess that climb is still just a little too long.  I can't quite hang on to those guys all the way up.  But... I can chase back on.  Twice!  And then throw down an attack with 400m to go for 4th, get passed by a few guys and finish 8th for the last money spot!  Woohoo!  My first cat 2 money!  $20 is $20!

 

Good luck to all out east at nationals... I'll be wishing I was there.

 

But I will see all y'all trackies in Calgary this weekend!

 

SA

The track race on the weekend was pretty fun.  And the weather on Saturday turned out to be beautiful!  We only had about 5 minutes of delay on the whole weekend!  I had a pretty bad pursuit... I went out way too hard, again.  But I still managed to snag 4th.  In the scratch race I just didn't have the kick to get away or the legs needed to stay with the group.  On Sunday, I did a decent kilo.  I ended up 12th but all the times were super close.  In the points race I felt a lot better than I did the day before in the scratch race, but I still didn't have quite enough.  Then we did a kierin right after, I attacked right after the bike pulled off and actually managed a small gap, but then everyone came around me on the back straight of the last lap.  It was fun though. 

 

Now it's time for a little steam this weekend.  See y'all down in Calgary. 

 

I also found a few more shots from Mt. Hood.  Some of them are pretty sweet!

 

Off to work

SA

So it's raining outside...

 

I haven't done anything since Sunday...

 

But I feel like I'm pretty much recovered.  I got my massage yesterday--notta lotta knots, but very very sore.  Lots of metabolites.  That's definitely a good thing though.  Well, not the metabolites, but the no knots.  My hammys are still a little tight, but I also got my foam roller... I'm good to go now. 

 

And I decided to do the track race this weekend... so that should be interesting!  I'm only not doing the sprints... just no point.  It should be fun and hopefully not wet, so we'll see y'all out there!

 

Rip it up!

 

SA

So now that I've had a little time to rest... still not quite fully recovered, but enough to write up a report:

 

Stage 1: was a 4.8km prologue starting with a little hill, a long false flat descent, ending with a decent little climb.  I started good and felt great through the first couple hundred meters, but over the crest of the hill I was hurting pretty good.  Luckily I was able to push through the false flat holding nearly 60km/h for most of it.  Maybe I pushed a little too hard and I had some troubles rolling into the climb, I think I actually used my 42-21 as I slowed considerably... but in the end I finished respectably 84th <forecasting future outcomes>. 

 

Stage 2: was the "flat" stage for the sprinters.  It still managed to feature 3 laps each with a KOM and 1500ft of climbing... not your typical Alberta race.  But it started out as any race would, with a high pace at the beginning through the rolling farmlands until the 4-man break was formed.  My chain/ rear derailleur were being dumb and not quite working so I was constantly changing to find a gear that worked.  All my problems started when Tracey touched at the Ardrossan crit.  But... I had played with it and knew that the only thing left to do was replace my chain... which I told myself I would do that night...  The race only really got hard on the climb each lap.  I suffered through it, knowing it would soon be over.  That is until the last lap when my chain couldn't take it anymore and snapped... I didn't know what to do... I couldn't walk to the finish from here... OH CRAP!!!  But then I remembered there was Shimano neutral support, so they very slowly gave me a new bike... I couldn't yell at them though, they were giving me a bike.  I managed to make it to the finish solo, and only lost 10 minutes. 

 

Stage 3: was the brutal one, featuring 5 laps down                          and up                    for a total of 90 miles and 9000ft of climbing.  And man, that was a real descent.  I got dropped... going down the hill.  Luckily, so did a bunch of other guys and we chased on without too much trouble.  And the first part of the climb is basically false flat, so it wasn't too bad.  But once we hit the steep slopes toward the KOM, it got hard.  I got gapped slightly through the feed zone, but chased back on by the bottom of the descent again.  As we rolled up the climb for the second time, I knew I was suffering.  As we turned onto the steep section again I remembered to ride within myself and hopefully pick off people who blow up.  It worked, except for the picking people off part.  I managed to limit my losses to 50 minutes on this stage.  By the last lap I couldn't even hold tempo pace, I was BEAT!!!  And that was definitely about 3 times my normal race caloric intake... crazy!

 

Stage 4: was the time trial.  I was hoping for a good ride, but not expecting my best based on the previous day.  The course was again up                       and back down                     totalling 15km.  I ended up having a really good ride.  I caught my 30 second man in about 5 minutes... and held a good pace.  I made it to the top in just under 15 minutes, and back down in 9, for a total of 24 minutes.  I think I used up all my muscle fibers that hadn't yet been used... to finish less than 4 minutes behind the commonwealth games champion, and 2 minutes behind last year's espoir national tt champ.  Not bad for a guy who almost died the day before!!

 

So at the beginning of the race, you're like, oh man, I can eat so much food it's gonna be great... but by this time you feel sick, are full, yet hungry, tired of carbs, don't ever wanna see food again... yet you just have to eat.  Luckily we're all in the same boat can pull an Andy for each other (ask me later if you feel like it, or if anyone actually reads this thing).

 

Stage 5: was the downtown crit, which still wasn't flat.  But after a couple laps I figured out that it was not a very technical course at all.  But that those guys a friggin' fast!  I knew I had to make 30 minutes to make the time cut.  I was holding good position for the first 5 or 10 minutes.  Then every lap I would lose a couple spots, until I was at the back and just couldn't close the gap anymore.  But by the time I was dropped we were only 24 minutes into the race... oh crap!  I'm not gonna get to race tomorrow.  I was just kinda mad.  But, I went to the last stage ready to race, and they let me... so;

 

Stage 6: was another brutal day of climbing.  I was thinking it was going to be easier... as this one was only 75 miles and only had 7500 feet of climbing.  This stage started on the same descent as stage 3, and guess what?  I got dropped again... but luckily, again, there were a bunch of guys chasing back on.  No big deal... until we hit the first climb, it only took one pitch, and I was gone!  Another solo day in the saddle for SA.  I wasn't the first guy dropped though, as 3 guys caught me, and then I caught one more.  I also saw 3 people dropping out.  These climbs were much steeper than stage 3 and I suffered in my 39-27 as the master men, and then the cat 3 men caught and passed me.  All the groups managed to shatter and I found people to ride with and use as carrots through the last climb of the day.  And I made it!  Woohoo!  I finished!  And I wasn't even last on the stage! 

 

So I ended up 84th overall, (hence, the foreshadowing of my prologue finish), out of 123 starters!  And the key is that I finished!  And I definitely hope to back next year, a lot faster, and to put in some decent results!  I also found managed to find some pictures... so here they are.

Well, now that I didn't write anything at all for a couple weeks I have tons to write about... 

 

Let's start with a quick recap of Ardrossan:

I rode a decent time trial for 13th place.  It was a lot of fun because we had a tailwind and it was just fast!  In the very fast crit, I hung out until the last couple laps where I put in multiple futile attempts to bridge up to the 5-man break, but we all ended up getting the same time anyway.  The road race was pretty hard with some good crosswinds and some strong riders.  I got in a break with Tim, Cam, and Nick F and I figured those were some good guys.  Unfortunately I was maxed and we still got caught.  In the end, I just couldn't match all the accelerations and rode the last couple kilometers in mostly on my own.

 

Then I had a tough training week before a weekend off for yet another amazing TEC weekend!  It always works out... somehow the big guy has a plan and... it works!

 

The next week the weather pretty much sucked here, but luckily I didn't really have to do anything but rest up for Mt. Hood the next week.  But first came the Canmore crit:  It was friggin cold!  6 degrees and a little rain to start us out (I thought cyclo-cross was in September...).  Juventus made up 1/6 of 30 man field and put on a good show... until the finish.  Dang!  We were all really aggressive with multiple attacks and some fun, but in the end I couldn't hold off the field (or even get a real gap) but Dan Wood took the win with the boys in blue bringing up the rear.

 

Next came some beautiful leisurely rides in Post Falls, Idaho, and Hood River, Oregon.  And while Amy got sick, Laura's mom is sweet and drove her down so she could still race.  So we had a 4 person Alberta contingent with 2 girls and 2 guys for the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic:

 

I think that review is gonna have to wait though because I'm tired and I have to open tomorrow!  G'nite!

 

SA