Sunday, February 15, 2009

Tradezone: Part 1 of many

I decided for this race I would do the B and C race. Not because I think I'm that great, but because I definitely need the training.

So the C race went like this, I won. That's about it. It was about as interesting as you would've expected a C race to be, there were no breakaways and no crashes that I know of. Actually, from being in both races, I think the C race was far less sketchier than the B. Who would've thought. On the bell lap a guy in a nondescript black uniform took off after the first right hand turn. I saw this and moved up to the front, not chasing the guy in front of me because I knew he would be cooked before coming into the finish. On the backstretch with all the pot holes another guy shot past me to bridge the gap and I rode his wheel across until we caught the guy and took off at the bottom of the uphill leading to the finish and that was all she wrote.

After the C race I was actually feeling pretty good. I still doubted my ability to finish the B race once I saw all the familiar faces in the B race, but I figured might as well give it a go. Now, the B race was a race, and I loved it. Attack after attack. I could definitely tell there are a few teams that are on the ball, and two worth mentioning, Route 1 and ABRT. I am not on either team, but I love when they show up to race because I know there will be some good tactics going on to make the race more interesting and feel like it makes me a more intelligent rider. Since this was my second race, I was trying to conserve a lot of energy and make smart efforts, which I did for the most part. I was feeling pretty good until about 5 laps to go. Then the hammer of Thor came down upon me and both my thighs cramped like crazy. I knew I could still hang on but every lap it felt like a cramp kept popping up in a new spot. By 3 laps to go, my hamstrings started to cramp. At this point I seriously thought about just pulling off but I figured I could still finish as long as I didn't try and stand up, which I never did for the rest of the race. Needless to say, I was able to finish in the field and definitely not contesting the sprint. I was upset about that, because I was definitely in good position on the last lap.
But it was a learning experience and now I at least know I need to tweak my race time nutrition a little bit because I refuse to not be competitive in anymore races because of cramps.

By the way, had anyone notice how skinny Kyle is looking these days?! Awesomeness!

6 comments:

  1. That was a fun race. Or at least I had a lot of fun trying to make it a race. Thanks for thinking I looked skinny. I was looking at pics thinking I need to lose like 15 more pounds.

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  2. No, seriously it definitely doesn't look like your weight should be too much of an issue for you, not as good as you were riding.

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  3. So your the guy who won the C race. MY ABRT homies in the C race weren't sure who did and I couldn't tell from the back of the pack as we were drifting in. There apparently was some confusion about laps at the end.

    No win is minor. Even though it was the boring C race, there were 49 other guys who didnt win. Maybe next week it'll be more action filled now that we all know what were capable of.

    Congrats!

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  4. So you're the guy who won, huh? I was the guy (Bike Rack kit) who bridged the gap to the solo break on that last stretch, and I totally thought I had the race wrapped up until I saw you come around. Nice job. I ended up third which I was pretty happy with.

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  5. Congratulations! I can't wait to go out there and start racing... Keep it going...

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  6. Good job in the C. Do the double again and get Kyle out there for both too. Drink more often. I seem to drink less in the cold and that's a bad thing. Maybe 'cause I always gotta pee, but I'm just gonna have to do it. I won't leave my B race bottle behind again. I know I looked silly attacking in lap 5, but my laps were numbered anyway since I only had about 2 sips left.

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