Tour of Lawrence Downtown Crit.

I raced the Sunday crit at the Tour of Lawrence. 

I tried hard not to get dropped. I failed. It was a valiant effort. 

The road bike got some much needed love, including faster baby approved tires, the morning of the race and then the entire family unit saddled up for the drive to Lawrence. 

Serious traffic delayed us about 30 minutes and since I still had to register I knew warm up time would be limited. That did not, however, prevent me from stopping by the Bourgeois Pig. I absolutely love that place. 

Managed to warm up for maybe 20 min before lining up. Not ideal but I was so glad to be at a big race with the family watching that i didn't really care. 

Once the whistle blew all the old feelings came back. This was a real race, where you had to pay close attention. I was on extra high, I'm a new dad and I don't want to break my collar bone again because that would suck, alert mode.

I felt like a Jedi. Scanning everyone around me, anticipating what action would lead to a chain reaction that would lead to me crashing. It was both annoying and invigorating.  

That attitude might have affected my race a bit, perhaps making it harder by not takin a small risks that could lead to an easier to finish race, but I was probably bound to get dropped either way. 

This time I held on to the group for 15 minutes, and I kept going after getting dropped. Latched on to one or two stragglers but dropped off them before finally recovering and settling into a rhythm. I noticed a previously dropped group of 5 coming up behind so jumped in with them and then waited to get lapped. 

I / we probably did 4 laps before getting lapped. I jumped back in with the peloton with about 9 to go and had no trouble hanging in until 1 to go. Then I got dropped and coasted home with a smile on my face, glad to get (basically) a full race in. 

For those 15 minutes I was back. 

It was awesome. 

Free Wheels For Kids Crit

I raced last Saturday. 

That's two weekends in a row of racing. 

I'm back, baby!

This time it was a crit. The last crit I raced ended with a broken collar bone. I avoided that this time. 

It was the Free Wheels Crit in KCK and I raced both the 4/5 and the 3/4. I lasted 9 minutes in the 4/5 and 7 minutes in the 3/4. If it hadn't been so dreadfully hot you could add at least two minutes to both on those times. 

I quickly developed a side cramp in the first race and while I was able to avoid this in the second race I think this increased breathing ability only allowed me to reach blow up status quicker. 

I knew I would do bad but it was shocking how hard it was. 

Racing ain't easy. 

Despite all this it was good to be back. Shoot, even double nickel was there. It felt like old times. 

I was hoping to get in a complete race between the two so since I didn't I rode more upon returning home. Geez was it hot. 

I'll be at the Lawrence crit this Sunday. 

See you there.  

I raced! (Masons Midsummer Meltdown)

I did a race on Sunday. Masons Midsummer Meltdown. It was a mountain bike race over at Wyandotte Lake.

Im planning to race cross this year so it seems like its about time to get back out there. This was the perfect race to start with. Low stress and low risk. 

I've been riding when i can, which has been commuting to work a couple days a week and then riding on the weekends. That adds up to about 6 hrs a week. Not a lot but also not much less than i used to ride. Plus i think the smaller amount will force me to focus on quality, we'll see how that goes.

I should also mention that i've been pulling the little man around in the trailer. That s*it is hard. 

So back to the race...

There were 8 or 9 guys in my age group (cat 2 30-39) and i was pleased to see that my deliberately slow start still had me in 5th once we hit the single track after the long downhill gravel section.

It's been about three years since i was last on these trails so i was riding conservatively. Plus it was damp and slick. Plus i was worried about blowing up. Despite all this I never forgot that this was a race so after about 5 minutes of acclimation i took it up a notch or two.  

I'd say i had a solid 30 minutes in me, then still felt okay for the next thirty, then was pretty empty for the last 37 minutes. It was extremely humid so thank god i was decently hydrated, otherwise it could have been ugly. I still cramped up towards the end but noting severe. And thank god i threw some extra food in my pocket right before heading to the start line. I raced for 1 hr and 37 minutes and i needed all the food i had.

i had one minor fall but besides that i thought i handled the slippery conditions pretty well. It really had me thinking about how great the race would be if i had the fitness. 

Fun trails.

Looking at the results i was 3rd in my age group, no bad, but if i had been in the 40-49 i would have been next to last.  

Im registered for Single Speed KC on August 1st and im hoping to hit up a few more races between now and then. I'll be doing one day at our crits next weekend in KCK (free wheels crits, check it out) and then maybe one day at the Tour of Lawrence and hopefully another mountain bike race or two.

Between my wife and all her Roller Derby commitments and our awesome son, who knows what races i'll be able to do so the basic plan is to ride so that im ready when the opportunity comes up.

Or that could all fall apart and i'll just sit back with the little man and play with toys.

it's a win win. 

Adios.