Racing, training, and a new bike

Alright, so I got my first road race of the season out of the way. I’m not quite sure where I came in, probably middle of the group. It was very wet out, I was riding a new bike (3rd ride), and the descents were extremely sketchy. I made it over the main climb within the top 10, but lost most of my advantage on the downhill. I wasn’t familiar enough with the bike, and I wasn’t prepared to take the necessary risks. I ended up soloing the last 20mi of the race… up until 1km to go when I was caught by a group of 6. A well timed attack got me across the line first in that group. We’ll see what my actual placing is.

Unfortunately, due to time constraints (mostly school) my training has still been pretty crappy. I think I’ve gotten enough rides in to maintain the fitness I gained during the fall though.

On a happier note, my new bike came in and it is absolutely beautiful. It is an absolute dream to ride — extremely responsive, stiff as hell, and light as a feather (at least I think so). Maybe I’m exaggerating a bit, but I really like it :o) Now, back to reality…

Update:

16th Place.. not too bad.  I’m unhappy about the conduct of some of the other riders though.  I lost at least 2 places due to riders taking pace with people in other categories.  Cheating is lame.

First Race Results

Well, the first races of the season are over.  I competed in one combined race with the category below me and one with the category above me.  In the first race, I got excited and made an early solo break for about 2 laps.  I managed to recover and help lead out a teammate for a 2nd place finish.  I came in somewhere near the back of the pack.  In the second race, my goal was just to hang in there and not get dropped since I’d already raced once and felt a little bit out of my league.  I managed to do this, so I’m pretty happy.  Overall I felt strong but made some poor decisions.  Let the racing begin!

Training Camp is Over

Three days of hard riding in the freezing cold in some of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.  Man, what a great time.  I pushed really hard the first day, kept the intensity at more manageable levels the second two days and I didn’t feel bad or too sore the whole time.  My descending skills still need lots of work, but they’re getting there.  Overally, I am really happy with my level of performance… I’m really surprised by how strong I felt.  The team (my skill level group in particular) seems really close and gets along well which is great.

My first race of the season is this weekend, so I’m pretty excited.  My goal is a top 10, but I’m really just hoping to get a clear idea of where I am and what I need to improve on.  We’ll see what happens.  Real life calls!

First Hard Ride of the Season

Yesterday I had my first real high intensity ride of the season, and it felt surprisingly good. I was a little bit more sketched out than I should have been when it came to corning though. Despite my cold, I felt great aerobically and my legs had plenty of acceleration in them. This isn’t to say I didn’t get dropped once, but it was a good experience and I can see some areas I need to improve. Overally, I’m happy about where I am. Training camp should be interesting!

A cold…

Well I made sure to get a flu shot to keep myself healthy this season, but I’ve still got colds to worry about.  And I just got one… one week before training camp.  I lost yet another weekend of long rides and I’m pretty worried now that it’s going to cause problems this season.  I think I failed to move forward through all of December because of missed workouts etc.  I did enough to maintain fitness, but not much more.  Hopefully my prior work will help out, but we’ll see.   My first race of the season is this month so I guess the truth will come out then.