Nationals

So it's been a while since I've posted. I went out to Colorado for a disappointing Nationals. I had the best form that I've ever experienced that weekend, but made foolish tactical mistakes. In the road race, I was worried about the climbs, but I climbed like I never have before. No problem. Also, they shortened the course and took about 15 miles of the route last minute. This changed the race entirely. I was prepared for a suffer-fest, a battle of attrition to the end. What ended up happening was silly. The course started at the base of an 8 minute climb, the longest of the day. This shattered the field to the point where about 45 riders remained from the 130 who started. After this, there was one more climb and a series of 4 laps around a flat, windy circuit, before taking the same route back to the finish. The winning break just gently rolled off the front while the peloton was doing about 15 mph. I was so fixated on just conserving energy (I assumed the climbs would keep it all together) that I didn't even bother to cover any moves....don't ask me what I was thinking...the biggest mistake of my career thus far. After that, there was nothing worth noting other than the fact that I felt great on the last few climbs to the finish which we hammered up really hard. There was also a steep, curvy descent before the line which was very dangerous and possibly the scariest moment on the bike for me (picture jockeying for sprinting position at 63 mph, no joke, that's how fast we went!). The crit was more fun but equally disappointing. Despite the increased altitude effects on my lungs, I felt great in the crit and used my hard earned diploma in crit racing from Speedweek to maneuver comfortably through the 160 man field. Ben and I took turns covering moves that never stuck, until he took a solo flier for the last 5 laps, only to be caught with one to go. I sat second wheel for the last 10 laps until a crash slowed me down and a swarm ruined my chances of obtaining the stars and stripes. Once again, great form, but very disappointing outcome.

Now I'm trying to forget about Nationals and focus on the summer races. I've posted my race schedule for the rest of the season, although the dates may be a bit off.

Sandy Springs...Speedweek in review

So Sandy Springs, the last day of Speedweek, was another decent performance for me. For the first 30 minutes of the race I rode very agressively, covering a lot of moves and staying on the front. Sadly, just as I began to slow down, the decisive move went with Peter Dawson from Rock Racing among others. I think I definitely had the goods to be in the winning move, just with wrong timing. Either way, I was pretty much toast after riding that hard and found myself red lining just to hang on for the rest of the crit. I ended up finishing mid pack, but nevertheless I was stoked to have been actually "part of the race", not just pack fodder.

Overall, I think I learned more in this past week of racing than I have in months. It was something new every race...here's a quick recap:

Athens: The pros are fast. Think conserve for the first 10 minutes and then start making moves...if you can.
Beaufort: Don't conserve too much, or you'll have bad position and get caught up in crashes. With a technical crit course, you need to move up more quickly if you start in the back.
Waltersboro: Spend some time motor pacing if you really want to do well in crits and don't be afraid of the dark.
Greenwood: Grow some balls and learn to hook and chop people in corners. Sometimes thats the only way.
Spartanburg: Without being agressive, you'll never get anywhere in a crit. Finding the proper passing line is paramount in order to be in contention.
Dillworth: Don't butt into a pro team's leadout train...especially don't cut off the guy they're trying to leadout.
Sandy Springs: Watch the field, know who is going to be allowed up the road in the break and who isn't......Get Faster!!!!

...and with that I'm off to Colorado for the 2008 Collegiate Road National Championships!

Spartanburg and Dillworth

So Spartanburg is not anything worth talking about....lets just say that I couldn't find the right line and got really frustrated with myself. Jared, Gonzo and the others had a great time moving up and did well.
Today at Dillworth was the polar opposite. From the get go I knew this was a good crit for me. It had a nice hill on it followed by a curvy decent. Somehow, this race just clicked and I found myself in the top 20 the entire race. Near the end however, I failed to make the right move. Instead of respecting the Toshiba leadout train, I tried to hop in only to get pushed out by a peeved Mark Heckman. At this, I immediately went from 5th wheel to 30th and my hopes of pulling off a top 10 shattered. I ended up finishing about 30th, but I learned a very valuable lesson. Respect the leadout train and get the wheel following it. I know this situation will come up in the future, so next time I will be ready. Overall, it was my best performance of the week. I truly felt just as strong as anyone else in the race as the hill was the perfect length for me. The finals take place tomorrow in Sandy Springs...maybe there will be another hill....

Greenwood

This race was suprisingly easy. For some reason, the course made the race very easy to just sit on. To illustrate this, JP was feeling sick at the start, but he said he was able to easily "surf the back" the entire time. This sort of thing has not come up in the last few days. Usually, the back is the most painful part of the race. Not tonight. It seemed the farther up you got, the harder it got. As hard as I tried, I just couldn't break through the huge mushroom of riders that seemed to form an inpenitrable wall, blocking the front. Each time I would hammer up the only hill, passing as many people as possible, I would just have to slam on the brakes to avoid crashing into the slew of riders strewn across the top. My back of the pack starting position didn't help either, but to be honest, I was feeling great, but just didn't have the experience to get myself into contention for the win or for any preimes. Now that KBS is heading up north (as are some of the other major teams) I think big things will happen for me tomorrow night. I generally race better after a day or two of races, and I think my legs are finally starting to feel "on". Stay tuned...

Waltersboro

Last night, after waiting out a bomb threat, the crit finally started behind schedule at 8:30 PM, just as the last rays of sunlight had disappeared over the trees. Indeed, the race promoters were unprepared for the total darkness that ensued. Over the whole course, there were only a couple half burnt out street light and one portable flood light; in other words, it was real dark! The first few laps were frightening. I hit a pothole the first time around and flatted, only to get a change from the pit and flat again on the same pot hole second time around. After another change, I was able to make it until finally dropping my chain with 7 laps to go. This created a gap that took just about everything I had to close down. I eventually popped on the hardest section, the turn into the back stretch. Each time around, coming out of this turn felt like sprinting around a car that's motorpacing you at 40 mph. The cops had a speed gun set up with a screen reading out our speeds down this part of the course and my teamate claimed to have seen 42 mph several times (this was a flat street!). All in all, last night was my best performance thus far, and a great workout. We'll see about tonight in Greenwood...

Beaufort

So for the last two days I've been hanging around the KOA campground we're staying at and meditating on what I am going to do better the rest of this week. At Athens, I went out way to hard and couldn't finish. Today at Beaufort, I did a little to much chilling in the beginning and paid for it later by getting stuck behind a crash. Turn 1 of the course was a crazy narrow 100 degree turn that caused a lot of carnage. I got a bad starting position and was unable to get back to the group after getting stuck behind a large pile up. Fortunately, I wasn't touched, but I never could close the gap. Needless to say, only about 40 people finished and droves of pros dropped out, plagued with the same problems I had. Overall, I was able to race hard for 30 minutes and I am feeling much more confident in my ability to finish the rest of the week out (barring any crazy crashes of course). I am slowly, but surely figuring out the way to ride these races.

Athens Twilight Criterium

So this race was a real learning experience. Friday was the Computrainer Grid Qualifiers, while the race was Saturday night. After getting a decent starting position (37th) in the qualifier, I felt pretty confident that I could finish, despite the horror stories I had heard for weeks beforehand. I lasted about 20 minutes for several reasons. 1) It was really, really fast. Faster than anything I've ever done before. The combination of the night setting, crowds, and tight corners made this race something that must be experienced to truly understand. 2) I made the same mistake I've made in several other crits before. I simply went out too hard. Just like at the Philly Dual Conference crit 2 months back, I nailed it from the gun and just couldn't recover. For the first 10 laps or so, I felt like superman. I was nailing the perfect outside line, making plenty of contact with the other riders which was scary, but very necessary, and moving up to the point where I could even see the front, about 25th place. All of a sudden, it all hit me just as it has in the other crits. I realized immediately that I was not going to finish. Every lap I slid further and further back until I finally got caught behind a crash and dropped my chain. After making my way to the pit, I just sat there, dumbfounded and completely disappointed, taking in the night. Jared has more of the story and pictures on his blog. Not a great start to Speedweek, but I'm determined to at least hang on for a while longer....we'll see what happens.