Saturday morning was the Iowa City road race, on a great course in Amish country southwest of town. With the addition of an omnium event (TT) this year, the road race was decreased to only 52 miles. A good idea or a bad idea? The winds were out of the SSE at 25mph which meant it was gonna be a gutter fest! Steve Tilford and his boys from Tradewinds came up, Adam Bergman(Texas Roadhouse) and the Bianchi-GrandPerformance boys were all in attendance to make it a fun regional race! Chad, Paul, Lou, Jeff, and I all lined up with the other 51 starts to tackle the wind and rolling roads. The first 3 miles were pretty fast and when we turned the corner into the crosswinds, all hell broke loose. I was able to make the first echelon and sit in while we finished the second leg of the lap. Fast forward to the cross-tail wind section, and echelons were forming as Tilford and his guys guttered everyone. The funny thing is, everyone knew it was coming. I was able to make the 2nd echelon, and we rotated well. Unfortunately, I saw Lou, Paul, and Jeff get spat out the back of the first echelon, so we did what we could the rest of the race to make things fun. All but 6 guys were shoved out of that first echelon, and Tilford and his guys took all but the 2nd spot (Bergman) on the day. What a show of tenacity and power. I was able to rotate well and roll in in 18th place, not a bad place but hated that it wasn't better. I actually was hoping for another couple laps, but you gotta work with what you got!! Either way, it made me pumped for Sunday.
Old Capital Crit
52 starters again, this time we didn't have Chad as he had bike mechanical issues. Hung on for dear life as Tilford and his boys once again were driving the pace to form a breakaway. After 10 laps or so Paul and I were sitting in the pack, and looked behind us to find that we were riding tailgun. Only 25 guys or so were left. I couldn't believe this, didn't think the race had been terribly hard so far, but none-the less, we had to move up or end up in the same place the other 25 did. My body was starting to open up as the laps were ticking down, a good sign! With about 5 laps to go I was moving up each lap and was trying to settle into the top 10-15 riders. Brian Jensen and Adam Bergman were able to get away, but nothing else could, so we were still racing for some good money and placings. Last lap, I came off the hill in about 15th place, not anywhere where I needed to be, but that is from lack of experience on my part. Ryan Nenninger (Mercy) hit the corner fast and washed out taking Steve Tilford with him, and causing some chaos. This allowed me to get into the top 10 wheels rounding the final corner. I was sprinting for the money, but don't think anyone's positions changed in the last corner to the line, and I ended up 12th. Just out of the money, but good result. So I didn't make any money during the weekend, but the results are getting better, and my form is coming alone.
I have had some great endurance since the beginning of spring, and now my top end form is starting to come, just in time for collegiate nationals and memorial day weekend! Speaking of Madison and collegiate nats, I am sitting in Madison now after pre-riding the Blue Mounds course and getting my numbers. That course is brutal, and I understand why it was a proposed Olympic road race course design for Chicago. I am feeling good, and just need to have the confidence in my abilities. It will be a great race, and I will be eager to report afterwards!
1 comment:
We rode the Blue Mounds course in the Madison Gran Fondo last fall - if you're doing the full 100 miles on that course it's a brute, keep your powder dry. Our course was shortened to 50 miles d/t weather and I managed 4th overall but if we had gone another 50 I would not have seen the finish line.
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