Back on Solid Ground

I returned home from a 2,000 mile journey the other night. My teammate and I were supposed to be going down to Arizona to race our bikes, but I can hardly remember any actual bike racing taking place over the course of our five-day adventure. It was a pretty dismal trip, and on top of that we were left out of WiFi range for most of our time on the road. I apologize for the lack of updates for the past week or so.

So as for the supposed bike racing...
I entered the Valley of the Sun Stage Race thinking it would be a good tough training race, with a strong field, that would help get me ready for some of our domestic pro racing later in the year. Alongside our four-man team, OUCH and Bissel also had small teams there, as well as a full Waste Management squad. By the time it came to actually leave for the race, I was dreading the whole idea of it - the drive, the race, the drive back. We decided to go anyway, having already paid the entry fee, and took off for the 14-hour drive to Phoenix. Before the next days' TT, my legs felt like rubber, and I couldn't get my head into it (go figure). I went out a bit easy in the first 10k or so, got caught by Roman Kilun while still trying out new hand positions on my new TT bike (this was about the 2nd time I'd ever ridden it). Then when I decided to pour it on, I caught him back, and we ended up riding side by side for pretty much the entire race until I tried to get a bit of an edge at the end. I ended up 13th place. It was pretty unsatisfying, but considering how I felt and my botched effort, I guess it showed some decent form for February.

The next days Road Race is pretty easy to describe - pretty much flat, no one was actually racing and anytime one did they would promptly be brought back into the fold by OUCH or Bissel. We essentially rolled around course for 90 miles waiting for the sprint, and then, just when the only actual bike racing of the whole day was about to occur, the sprint never even happened. That's right. Our race was neutralized with 1k to go, and every rider was given the same time, even ones who had gotten split off the back in the end-game (which took place on a little wanna-be hill). I was sitting about 5-6th wheel back on the Bissel train, getting ready to sprint for it and make my trip down there worthwhile, and the race moto pulls up alongside us and tells us our race is over. Something about a big crash at the finish in the race before ours. It was especially funny when we rode across the line, and it was totally clear except for some ambulances on the shoulder. I tried very hard to restrain myself from giving the race organizer an earful, and succeeded.

As if my week wasn't going badly enough yet, the crit threw me some bad breaks too. I didn't feel spectacular, but I was thinking I would for sure be able to sit in for 70 minutes. Turns out I was wrong. I started dead last on a really tight course, and within the first 3 laps I found myself being split off the back about ten wheels in front of me. Now I guess I should have had the legs to recover from starting in the back row, but I didn't, and a few stupid splits later, that was the end of my race. As a matter of fact, my entire team was out after about 20 minutes, left to wonder what may have happened if we had gotten it together enough to sit on the front line before the start.

So that was that. Some bike race.
We drove to Long Beach afterward to stay with a friend of mine and spent an enjoyable day riding highway 1 and then going to the ADT velodrome for an evening training session, which was by far the coolest thing we did along the way.

Now I'm just glad to be back home where I can get in some solid training and sleep in my own bed. I'm heading out right now for a six-hour ride into the Sierra foothills, thinking I should just back away from racing for a little while, until my first big team races.