Jeff

Tour of Granite City

The other weekend I competed in a 3 stage Cat 4,5 points race (RR, TT, Circuit Race).  The legs felt good, but I am still not executing on strategy.  I am not sure if it makes it better or worse that after the race is over I have multiple teammates tell me that I am plenty strong, but need to race smarter.

The RR was 54 miles that included 4 laps.  I missed getting in the break, but then expended too much energy trying to bridge up to it.  I was spent at the end and crossed the line 12th, of 40+.  One of my teammates (Cobra) finished 5th, which was great to see.  After the race I had to hurry home as my wife wanted to take the girls to a pool party.

The next morning started with an 8 mile TT, where I placed 8th.  The circuit race started at 12:30 so Cobra and I grabbed some Subway quick after the TT.  The circuit race went fairly well as I tried to race smarter.  I was not in the ideal position for the final sprint, but was able to pull off a 4th place finish.

Overall I ended up 7th on the weekend.  My legs felt good so I am hopeful for the last few races of the season.  I still think I could place well enough to upgrade for next year as long as I race smart.

Jeff

Another Omaha Trip

Decided to bring my bike with me to Omaha this weekend, which was great.

On a side note: What if anything helps reduce the noise of the bike rack on top of the car?

I was able to get in a 3.5 hrs of riding over the weekend.

On the 4th I went for a 2hr and 10 min ride focusing on race winning intervals.  We were at the in-laws all day so instead of taking the customary afternoon nap I hit the roads of Underwood, IA.  I now have a better appreciation of the nice MN shoulders, because none of the roads I went on had anything close to a shoulder.  There were some great drivers that gave me plenty of space, but there were a couple "pucker" moments that I could have done without.  Overall it was a good ride, plus it helped balance a less than perfect eating day.

On the 5th I was able to get in 1hr and 20min, while my youngest took her afternoon nap.  I tried to find a decent road but was unsuccessful, thus I decided to do some hill intervals after about 40 min on the bike to get something out of the ride.  The only "hills" close to my brothers house (where we stay) were not huge, but okay to do 30 sec sprints.  Thus I did 2 sets of 5 x 30sec x 30sec with 6 min of rest between.

Overall I felt that I made lugging the bike down worthwhile.

Going to do a Crit race this Sunday, and then a 2 day stage race the following weekend.

My brother did say he checks the blog so at least I know somebody is reading my dribble.

Take Care - Jeff