What NOT winning looks like...

The grand look of confusion "I WON! wait...what?"

no i didn't get passed at the line. no chance for that to happen. But i didn't get the "win" due to a restart. i guess its only fair and considering the circumstances it didn't really matter.

at least i found this picture and still got 4th the second time around.

pciture thanks to Amy Jones

Smart Start or Total

i just had an awesome start to my day...

1. I woke up at 6 to go ride, felt like crap-tired from going to bed late every night and getting up at 6 every morning to go ride. Its the kind of tired where you fall asleep putting your socks on or for whatever reason you lay down on the living room floor after having put your helmet on and accidentally fall asleep for 10 mins. (i didnt do that this morning but still.)
   
2. Kind of rainy out despite no actual precipitation (probably more of a positive thing, but wetness is still wet).
3. Ride the 7 miles to work only to get a flat within the last mile (better the last mile than the 1st i suppose).
   
4. After dropping off my stuff at work and changing the flat, I ride over to the road where i do my sprints. 1st sprint my chain slips and i slam my knee into my handlebars.
   
5. felt like crap each and every sprint.

i got my whole workout in which is good.

It always seems to rain on Tuesday and i usually work at the shop tuesday nights so i get to ride in the rain to my real job 7 miles, then ride to the bike shop in the rain 2 miles away, and than at 9:00 at night ride home in the rain another 7 miles.

I like riding in the rain, but having to get geared up 2 extra times in dirty, wet clothes just to ride such a short distance sucks.

Now for breakfast i can't decide. Smart Start or Total.

Ride Sally Ride (CAT 4)

Our race was called early, about halfway through... they called last lap. i won the sprint and thought we were going home after 10 miles of racing, but no. they called us back to the line.

great.

They posted 10 laps to go. Josh Flexman on the last lap made the move on the inside. i had to solo sprint from the last corner to MAYBE catch the 2 trying to contend with Josh. We also passed the guy on the breakaway attempt from earlier. I was 4th.

They gave me the prime for the initial "win". I also got points for 1st...so that's really what i wanted.

Still kind of disappointing, but 4th isn't bad and a prime and points for 1st.

**note-i'm now hearing that we get BOTH results. for i get results for 1st and 4th. sick.

Man, i love Chipotle

Did the Bryan Park Circuit race yesterday. It was my first CAT 4 race...not any different than any CAT 5 race i've been in. Not sure what to make of that.

They had prime's (free burrito @ Chipotle) every other lap for the middle part of the race. I went for the first one. got it. made a couple jokes with the guy i beat for it. To be honest it was a fairly boring race but fast enough (for me) that i wouldn't be able to get away and stay away, besides the fact i can fair pretty well in any sprint, so any 'fun' that could be had was well received.

6 laps to go i started sliding out in the turns. rear tire was flat. i panicked, yelled for my wife to grab my other wheels (not in the pit, but in the car...my costly mistake). too late though. pack made it around just before she got back. i said forget it...i got my free burrito, no reason to chase for 5 laps and finish dead last. I should have continued on the half flat tire another lap, my wife would have been back, i could have changed it out and been rolling again.

Dan Baur grabbed 7th, just in the points. thats awesome.

CAT 5 Lessons

#1 thing i learned as a CAT 5 (and as a married man) is to remember important dates/times. When it comes to cycling/racing i am referring to registering for races you want to race, because as most racers know that when you are a CAT 5 your group for larger, more important events fill up quickly...you have to plan, set aside time, be waiting patiently, clicking the refresh button over and over again.

Now as a CAT 4 its not as important...I'm the first one registered for upcoming races. i also program my phone now too.

i am lame.

Rolling in FL

I got to my wife's grandparent's on Friday. My wife and i flew down to visit with her family for a few days (fri-wed). Luckily her parents and siblings were driving down so i was able to throw my bike on their car and meet it down here. To prevent any major tragedies (like missing a race or losing my only race bike) i gave them my fixed gear.

Florida is an awesome place to ride a fixed gear...at least compared to NoVa. I did a 75+ ride on Sunday out to titusville (or something) from Orlando and while i am in far better shape than i was back in Jan, it remains that it was MUCH easier than the 70 mile ride i did out past The Plains and back from my house. By the way, its fun riding a fixed gear for so long...not sure why. trance like.

Another bonus of FL so far has been the drivers. Besides the one fat lady in her truck honking at me while she was trying to pull into McD's and the moron who nearly ran into me and the car ahead of her at the light today, all the drivers have been lovely and given me lots'o'room. i think in NoVa i get honked at, called a fag, and a random other act of violence (ie swerved at, reaching out of windows, etc.) once a ride, which as a commuter and racer can equate to a MAX of 3x a day.

tomorrow is a sprint workout...at home i have difficulty finding a proper road to do these on (i like long, flat, straight sections to really exert the legs. I was also advised to use those for the best workout results). Where as here, I'm in no shortage of such roads...as a matter of fact everything is a long straight, flat road. i found myself staring just off my front wheel on my long ride to avoid mental suicide-constantly being able to see 5 miles ahead.

Oh yeah, went to Typhoon lagoon today and Epcot tomorrow. Typhoon Lagoon ruined my memory of the place. Things look drastically different 10-13 years later. I hope its not the same for Epcot.

Season-1st half, 2nd half

I'm kind of hesitant to blog. i've noticed this thing appears a someone's blog list who is quite the popular rider around here. Its nice but i'm just a CAT 4 (and barely) and i dont think anyone cares what i have to say.

Anyhow. The 1st half of the race season has passed for me. I've achieved almost all my goals for the season too.

• I've collected 1 win (goal) (Syns-Fit Crit).
  
• I rode haymarket's Mt Weather ride (which i realize isn't much of a goal, but i set that goal after my 2nd month of riding, when the total 14 mile commute for the day was still a lot).
  
• I've also made it from 5 to 4 in a half of a season (goal) with a total of 4 podiums (bonus).
• Lost 40lbs.
• Be apart of a winning breakaway [2nd and 3rd places for myself] (1st race at Snowball 10 sec gap on last lap, just rode off the front. Waynesboro does it count with 6 guys annihilate the entire field?)
  

2nd half season goals

• Another win (maybe two)
• CAT up to 3 (i've been told by my riding peers that it shouldn't be out of reach)
• Top 15 at Tour of Washington County (worried about that TT)
• Lose 5-10 more lbs. (i'm apparently building muscle now...so this may be difficult)
  
• Be apart of 2 more winning breakaway's
• Lead a teammate out for a win.
  
• Top 3 at Hagerstown State Championship Crit (7/11)
• Vint Hill Development Series Overall Winner (home court advantage).

A lot of more goals for the rest of the season but i think most of them are realistic. I dont know if i will be able to lead out a teammate for a win, my chances are limited to a few races being that they are all 3's basically and only one of which is a sprinter so i'd substitute that for wasting myself for one of them if it meant victory in a breakaway.

I've learned a ton through the first half of this year, mostly in my first 2 bigger races which resulted in poor results. I've also learned a ton doing the Wednesday Night Haymarket ride. Those guys are all so good, and i get a ton of advice post ride from different guys. Not to mention the experience i gain from riding at speeds and intensities much higher than any CAT 5 race.