Chad's spot for various thoughts, musings, poetry, ideas and whatnot

Wednesday, April 02, 2003

Brooks

This was the big start to the season. This is where I was going to find out if all the hard work from last year and this year had amounted to anything. This was the proof of the pudding. Last year in Brooks I had struggled to a mid-pack finish nad a 3rd place placing in the time trial. This year my goals were top five in the road race, winning the time trial and a top five overall in the Omnium. I had high expectations. So high, in fact, that I nearly made myself sick on the day before the race. On the positive side, IU was going to ride with my former student Daryl Reynolds. He's riding for UGA Cycling now (and Team Bling Bling) and we had decided to support each other in the road race.

The Road Race This was a wild ride for everyone. The D-Man and I decided to try to get away early and often. We attacked and attacked and attacked. At a couple of points we had good gaps but each time the Bicycles Unlimited riders closed the gap and then sat on our wheels. was it frustrating? Yeah, but they were doing their job. I was hoping one of them would bridge and work with us but they had other plans; they had a sprinter. So with about 6 miles to go, Dary;l and I shut it down. We let the pace slow up and we rested up for a sprint. Daryl was near the front and I was about eight riders back. In fact, I was set up on the BU leadout train's wheels. If they weren't going to let me get away, I was going to co-opt their lead out from their sprint guy. I had strong legs and I knew that I had put the hurtin' on everyone else. With 250 meteres to go I was in a goo dposition. I was about 4 deep behind the BU train ready to roll. Then the stupid thing happens. Some idiot has to make a move. A wheel gets clipped and up ahead is a crash. It was a bad one. I had to hit my brakes and by the time I recover twenty people have passed me. Still, I spin up my sprint to see if I can make it back into the top 15. Not quite, I finish 17th. Still though, had it not been for the crash, I would have been top 10. Rumor has it we finished with a lap record time of 1:04:15. 24.2 miles per hour. Over the last 6 miles we had gone slower than that so D-Man and I did a goodly bit of work on the front. I was pleased with my effort but disappointed with the result. Daryl, who was in front of the crash, took the win with a strong sprint.

The Time Trial To say I flew was an understatement. A new PR, 24.5 mph. Last year I averaged 23.0 and was over 1:30 slower on the same course. The result? Third place again. I was 21 seconds behind the D-man and 2.3 seconds behind a BU rider. Great effort, same result. I was bummed and exhilirated. Losing to Daryl didn't bother me but when will I get to the top of the podium/

The Crit This was going to be my first crit ever. Having heard the crash stories, I was really concerned about doing the race and almost chickened out. Daryl and my wife talked me into it though so I went. At first, my legs just sucked and I couldn't corner. So I hung at the back of the pack and decided to just try and finish. Three laps in though I began to find my legs and I saw that I was climbing up the front stretch a bit better than most. So I began to devise a strategy. Get position on the climbs and try to hang on in the corners until i got the hang of that. With three laps to go, I was sitting in pretty well but that's when everyone tried to get to the front. On the last lap I sprinted up the final hill and ended up taking 8th place. My first top ten road finish, in the discipline I always thought I'd hate to boot.

So, I finished 5th place in the Omnium and left with some hope for the rest of the season. Next time, maybe I'll avoid the crash and my road race placing will be indicative of my fitness. Until then, its work, work, work.

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