Okay, okay, okay.... my sister has been all over my case about putting up a post about last weekend's Wilmington Grand Prix. I'm a busy guy. 9 solid hours of work this week at the YMCA doesn't allow me much time to get on the computer, right?!?! It's been a good week. Few hard days of training early on, than Thursday, Friday called for nice easy recovery ride. BikeJam this weekend in Baltimore followed by some solid teammate time which will more than likely include some dark beer of some sort!
So last weekend. Here we go. Wilmington, DE held its annual "Wilmington Grand Prix". Unlike previous years, this was a 3 day omnium stage race. Typically its just been the Saturday crit. Friday was a 5k TT, Saturday was the traditional 35mile criterium followed by a 113mile road race on Sunday. Our team vowed out of the short TT and showed up Saturday afternoon to some great sunny weather. A huge breath of fresh air considering it been flooding around here lately.
Crit-140 men took to the line including some top professional riders from United Healthcare, Jamis, and Bissell. This crit is notorious for being hard and often times you find yourself in a pain zone the first 10 laps. The course is an 8 corner crit with 1 particular turn that sends riders from a wide, somewhat downhill road through a sharp 90 degree turn onto a very narrow street. Lap after lap, I go through this turn and often times wonder how so many riders pack through it without going down. I guess it's the danger of crit racing, the sound and smell of brakes rubbing carbon, the feel of the push coming from the draft and the white knuckle intensity. The first 10 laps were brutal as always. It's a matter of hanging on, finding your zone and trusting that the pace will slow at some point. We had a few teammates pop out early on. Heavy legs, high heart rate, wrong position and you will find yourself in serious trouble. A number of us held on, fought through and were there at the end. I really believe that we are stronger than we think, but for some reason we have fear this year. Lack of confidence to take it to the end and do whatever you have to do to win. It'll come around again. We know how to win. Anyway, I ended up in the sprint finish and took 23rd. My glute/back are holding up well and I need to continue to put more and more racing in my legs.
Road Race- After some awesome sleep at the wonderful Double Tree in downtown Wilmington, we found ourself scarfing as much hotel food as we could in the early morning hours of Sunday. Our 113 mile race started at 8am (rather early for most pro races). Oatmeal, pancakes, fruit, OJ and coffee did the trick. As I was getting up to the start line, I realized this was the longest race I've ever done. I quickly ate an extra Powerbar just in case. Anyway, the course would take us out to Dover, DE and back to Wilmington. As long as it was, it was actually a pretty easy, uneventful race. It was pancake flat and after some early, unsuccessful attacks, things settled down as UHC (United Healthcare) got on the front. 3 riders had gotten away and opened up as much as 4mins on us. Again, UHC got on the front and slowly drug them back as we were coming into the last 10-15miles. The pace picked up and riders were starting to jockey for position. All over the road we go, hard to the right, than back to the left. I fought to stay up near the front as I wanted to get in the sprint. Low and behold, I finished 23rd again. Happy with the way my body felt, yet need to be finding my way to the top ten soon. Again, it's a confidence thing. Maybe another a demon, huh?
This weekend brings us BikeJam which is our host race. We are the main sponsor and it serves as a major fundraiser for the KBS/LSV club. It's held this Saturday in the Baltimore area. It's a crit that takes place in a park. I don't know how to explain it, but it's one of those races that people either love or they hate. You might be asking, "do you like it or hate it?" I'll save my comments for later! The road surface is pretty choppy with riders finding their way into gravel, dirt and grass each lap. Either we or our pro team MUST, MUST win this race. Sunday is still up in the air, but we might do a brutal team ride out of Baltimore in preparation for Nationals coming up in June. This usually calls for lots of coffee, food and pain.
Hot, humid weather has found its way back to the Philly area. The heart of the racing season is just around the corner. The Mueller family vacation is not too far off either. Awww, the cabins of northern Wisconsin. Nothing like it, A place to relax a bit.
That's it for now. Sorry I have no pics from Wilmington. I'll get something together for BikeJam.
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