Superior Morgul Classic (TT and Crit)

Not a race for me I was told over and over again. You gotta go up that wall 5 times in the race and once in the Time Trial. I have to admit, when you weigh 184, it feels like "they" are right. However, to be honest, I'm a masters cyclist. It's not like this race is life and death. I'm not quite ready to give up M and M's and beer to go up this hill 10 seconds faster. So, my heavy, non-climber butt toed the line on that Friday night ready to get at the first stage.

I did have an advantage. Neal was out of town so I was riding his Shiv and I chalk my success up to that. That way I can chalk the fact that he has beaten me in two TT's this year by 2 sec up to the bike as well. I hit the wall well and despite a chain problem that cost me a couple of seconds at the top, I rode the back half of the course very well and took 9th in the TT, 3o sec down on Boups. It was a good ride for me and I headed home ready for day 2.

Here is the part for me that is why I can never take racing too seriously. We got back to the house at about 7 that night. The next 2 hours was taken up by prepping for the expo the net day. Breeze Bars had a tent at the Crit and the Road Race and we had to be prepared for it. We packed the car, got the tent ready and got all of our clothes laid out, had a quick dinner and went to bed by 11. The next morning 5:25 came pretty quick. Breeze was off to the expo and I was off to coach RACE. The kids had a great workout and then I hustled over to the course give Breeze a break at the table so she could warmup and race. She did race, and raced very well, taking 9th in the crit for the Cat 4 women. My race was at 3:40 and I spent another 2 hours at the table while I sent her home to shower and warm up from the frigid rain they raced in. I was watching the pro 1,2 women when I got a call from Len Pettyjohn. He wanted to go over the crit and overall omnium tactics. I have to admit I chuckled a bit when he asked what I thought regarding the road race on Sunday. I knew I was the highest team finisher in that TT, but I wasn't confident in finishing in the top 3 in the road race and told Len as much. I felt more comfortable as a worker bee and thought that Ken and Mike had better shots at the overall. We formed a plan for the crit.

We started the crit with the 35 3's and there were several of them at the front early. There were bells ringing everywhere and one of the Mix1 guys jumped to the line thinking there was a preme. There wasn't, but it woke me up. As did the  48 degree rain, which was now coming down pretty good. The first point preme came up and I drilled it up the hill and through the backside of the lap. I stayed on the front until the sweeping left 200m from the line and the boys opened it up. Ken took it. Perfect. We settled back into a tough pace. I was on or near the front a lot with Carlos. We were a good pairing as the rain did not bother us and we kept the pace high. The second preme was announced and again I was on the front for the lead out. This time Mike took it and Ken was second. Back to the front. The middle 20 min of crits go like a blur to me and as we came through the final preme, Gibson launched off the front. It was a good move and in the rain, the group was not motivated to work. Carlos and I worked the front and with two to go the gap was 25 sec. I hit the front to wind up the lead out for Ken, but by the time we came through the finish line and up the hill on the final lap, the gap was 8 sec. Oops. I really backed off into the top corners amid the protest of the other rides, but I needed to give Mike more room. It worked and he survived. Ken took 3rd and Carlos 7th and I was 9th. Not bad.

We packed up the tent and Breeze Bars stuff as quickly as we could and cranked the heaters. By 6 we were home, but then the prep began again. Dry off the expo gear. Shower, ice bath, repack for Sunday, etc. We crawled into bed at 10:30 and set the alarms for Sunday.