Well, judging from my lack of posts, when I take some time off the bike, I apparently take some time off from writing on the blog. Ohh well. Let’s all get caught up to speed.
The last few races of the year went pretty well for me. The second to last cross race was much better than I had anticipated, and fished 2nd. Nothing to complain about there.
The last “set” of races went well as well. The race was the Porky Gulch Classic. If you have never heard of this race, gotta say, it is petty sweet. Its a 2 day stage race. The first day, stage 1 involves a climb up the first 2 miles of Mt Washington, which is known as the world’s toughest hill climb. I only did the first 2 of it and if that is an indication of what the next 5 are, I can say I don’t want any part of it. Either way, I got all geared up and took my place at the line. We stated every 30 seconds, and there were 4 people starting behind me. My only goal, as I am not known as the best climber, was to not get passed by all 4. About 5 minutes into the race, the 5th person, who was the first elite rider blew by me. It was quite impressive on how fast he blew by me. My time put me near the back of the pack for the intermediates, which is what I expected.
Garmin Data – Not so impressive
Day 1, stage 2 was the Story Land Crit. Story Land is quite the little playground for young kids. If you have a youngster, and are in the North Conway area, take them there. They will thank you. It is almost like a mini Disney Land. Either way, things were going well, and was up near the top 5. I was swapping places with another gent for 6th. I would pull him through the entire park, and he would pull me on the long flat stretch. That was, until I skipped a pedal, which made the bike hop, unseating the bead leaving me with walking the bike out on my shoulder with a flat tire.
Garmin Data – If you watch it in the player, you might get dizzy.
Day 2 Stage 3 was the cross stage of the race. Even though I was out of the running for the overall title, I wanted to have a strong showing for the cross race. The gun went off and I led almost the entire first lap. With the lead, I knew I would drift back a bit, but it put me in a good position for the rest of the race. When the dust settled, I ended up around 6th of 7th. Not too bad I guess.
Went all was said and done, I fished 13th overall. Not quite the results I was looking for, but I guess it will have to do being I am not quite built like a climber and had a flat. Being that is the only mechanical I have had in 12 races with hundreds of miles raced, I cannot complain.
Along with the Porky Gulch race, the 3rd cross race in the Great Glen series raced at the same time. So it was really tricky to gauge where I was, position wise, for that series. When I crossed the line, I believe I was in 5th, which put me in a total of 3rd overall for the series. I wasn’t expecting to be on the podium, so it was a nice surprise.
No GPs data. I don’t like racing cross with it on my bike with fear of losing it. Plus, I know my heart rate is pegged the entire time anyway. If it isnt, you aren’t racing hard enough.
So there it is, the last 3 races of the year. Overall I think I had a pretty solid year on the bike as it was my first year out there racing a full endurance season.
So what have I been up to since then? Nothing really. I took some time off the bike to get mentally recharged, rode a couple times here and there. But as of yesterday morning, I am back at it with workouts getting ready for the 2010 season. This year, things will be a little different. I have on board a new coach, ME. I actually went as far as becoming a USA Certified Level 3 Coach. Pretty swanky eh? Hopefully, I now have all the tools to help myself become a bit stronger. I have been doing tons of reading on things to try and make myself a quality training plan, so I am hoping for the best.
On tap this week and next, some nice easy riding, mostly commuting, with low heart rates to just get the body used to being back on the bike before a start in with a fitness test to really nail down my zones…
