Perry Roubaix 2012... its safe to say i wont be mistake for Roger De Vlaeminck

i'm sitting here at work unable to concentrate as ku plays in the national championship game in about 4 hours, why not waste time writing about Perry Roubaix.

But first a quick message...

Recently i've been wavering on wether or not to continue this blog. I love entertaining people but it's becoming more and more of a chore. it's a love hate relationship. i think the blog will continue but it will be different. Okay, enough of that.

fun bike stuff...

I drove to Perry on Sunday morning to pop my cherry on the Perry Roubaix race. That means it would be the first time i ever did it.

i was running late plus had to put on my tires at the race venue so i had no warmup. Something like 10 people ended up with flats so putting on the special tires was key. And thanks to Lyles for reminding me to put the tires on correctly, i was a little sped up and flustered and he offered some sound advice.

I rolled up to the startline with way to much stuff in my pockets and looked around to see 21 other cat 4 racers. Joe fashion gave me a tip that the first pass thru the gravel would be really fast but then everyone would settle down. it was a great tip.

a bit on the gravel....

i've never done a gravel ride. i've ridden a little gravel on my road bike but only because the route we took unexpecdetly turned into gravel. i had no idea what it would be like. i wasent worried but was definitely on high alert. plus the gravel section was 3 miles long. that seemed crazy long to me but i loved it. we race on pavement all the time so it's good to mix it up.

So Joe's tip proved to be right on, or maybe i was just suffering so bad that it seemed faster than it really was, or mayabe it was a little of both.

Either way we hit the gravel on the first lap and i was immediately in difficultly. i approached it cautiously so a gap opened up because of that. then it took a while to get comfortable so more gaps opened up. i wasent worried, the group was right there so i figured i would just ride up to them. then i started to realize that tons of people were in my situation and the lead group was only about 6 and getting further away. then i started to realize that i was having to bust my a** to catch back up. then i started to realize that i was busting my a** and not even catching up at all. then i remembered the race wasent even 5 minutes old, holy s*it! i was going to get dropped on the first lap!

That first pass thru the gravel was intense. When i saw pot pit (whose new nickname is 'the gravel whisper) at the front i know it was serious.

We came out of the gravel and i was leading the first chase group. I told the guy behind me to pull thru because i was dying, he closed the gap easily and i was back in the safety of the bunch. A few more made contact and there were probably 10 to 12 of us. That first lap was unfortunately the most exciting part of my race so the rest of this will be short.

I felt good for the last few miles of the 1st lap and even took a short pull, nothing hard. but then i got dropped on the second pass thru the gravel. Eventually i hooked up with three other guys (including fixed gear phillip, former winner of Street Cred!) and we worked well together. But then they dropped me (not on the gravel this time, i like to get dropped on different surfaces) and i rode the final 3 laps by myself. Actually i was joined by a velo tek guy for the last 5 miles. he was second before flatting. he dropped me like a gad habit on the final climb.

Thankfully i was not discouraged about any of this and rode hard the whole way. I kept a good attitude. Of course i was pissed to get dropped. i know i can be a lot better than this. i've proved it in cross. but i havent put in that much work so far this year so i got what i deserved. i plan to keep my head down and keep riding with a good attitude. you've got to work for it and i cant wait to work for it. i wish my real job was this much fun.

(i think i use the word 'i' to much in my writing, does anyone else notice that? i do)

So i felt like s*it at Perry Roubaix but came away from the race with a better understanding of myself and how to race bikes. plus since everyone flatted i finished 8th! ha!

God's country mountain bike this saturday (weather permitting)!!!

Rock Chalk