I HATE RACING IN THE RAIN!
Started raining just before the start and it sucked. a group of 3 got away and I tried everything I could to bring it back for JD but without much sucess. Kind of a sucky weekend.
Madera:
Stage 1: Ben Hur Hill Climb
This was described as a 10 miles TT with the first 6 being rolling(uphill) and the next 4 a steeper climb(1300ft in 4.5 miles) but run full TT setup minus the disc. I did and I regret it. I would have been much more comfortable on my road bike with clip-ons as would have been may others. I did the first 6 miles hard to catch my 1 and 2 minute guys but blew at the base of the climb. Ben Jacque Maynes set a new course record and I was 5 minutes down already, fark. I went up the climb suffering in the 39/23 and while rolling back down I watched a Kelly Benefits guys rolling it in the big ring and aero bars, double fark.
Suffering on the hill:
New goals for the weekend now that the stage race is over, have fun and get training
Stage 2: Sharron TT
Flat 10.2 miles with a good amount of wind. This is much more my style of TT. 1 and 2 went to Ben and the Kelly guy again but 3rd through 14th were less than 15 seconds apart. I was 13th in a strong field and content with the result. My power was better than I expected for both TT's give my current level of fitness.
Stage 3 crit:
Pretty boring 4 corner crit with some bad road and wind. I tried a couple attacks very early on but Bissell or Cal Giant hopped on anything that moved and shut it down unless it had the right guys in it. I didn't have the fire power riding solo to find out which combo that was so I tucked in a waited for the last lap and same time.
Stage 4 RR:
This was the one I was worried about, very rough roads and a "roubaix" section. Last year as a 3 I flatted 2 wheels in the first 10 miles. We rolled out at 8am and it was very cold but warmed up fast. After a neutral couple miles to get on the course it started. Attacks went from the gun and the pace was high. So many flats it was amazing. Ben flatted and all of a sudden you see a bunch of bissell guys pull to the sides and drop back. The pack was flying but still together, nothing escaping for much more than a minute or so and people only dropping out with flats or mechanicals. Third time through the course you start praying for a flat just to end the jarring. On the fourth lap I was tucked in toward the back as I started to develop a twinge in my knee. I was looking down and trying to pick as smooth a line as possible through the rock pile called a road surrounded by a couple guys high up on GC that I knew would be there in the end when I looked up and there was a split in the cross wind section. Alarms start ringing and 20m turns into 100m and bigger and bigger. We chased for a bit but to no avail, race over, such a stupid mistake.
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