Saturday, March 13, 2004

Saturday
Sylvan Springs Crit
I've been sick for the last week and a half. I have fought a valiant battle but in the last couple days the cold started to settle a little bit in my chest. Being the smart person i am i forgot to take a decongestant in the morning and my sinuses were draining like crazy. Brilliant! Since I had been sick I decided to ride the 45 minute Masters 35+ race instead of the 60 minute 1/2/3 race. I registered, put a few clothes on to judge how warm it was and took a couple laps. I was uncomfortably cool and my legs felt terrible. Perhaps I should have ridden since Tuesday's Spinning class. Brilliant! I went back to the car and rode the trainer for about a half hour before taking my wheels up to the wheel pit. Before the race, we got in a couple more warmup laps and they went a bit better than before and gave me some hope for the race. That hope disappeared quickly and my legs were burning each time up the hill. After 3 or 4 laps, I was ready to pull out. Thankfully, the race settled down a bit and I was able to find a rhythm. A few laps later, Sam Moore, Tracy Smith and Ethan Froese from Columbia broke away. The pack let them go with only a few attempts to bring them back. A little over halfway through the race James Roseberry and Tim Rister broke away. The rest of the race was punctuated with a series of small attacks there were quickly covered by the rest of the pack. The longer the race went, the more comfortable I felt. In my usual manner, however, once the last lap came I found myself near the rear of the pack. As the pack went up the hill for the last time I had resigned myself to finishing anonymously in the pack. Right then, people started slowing and others seemed to completely crack. I still felt good and decided to give whatever I had in my legs and I slid threw most of the pack and made the right hand turn onto the home straight. I saw I was in a good finishing place and while I couldnt pass anyone else, no one else came by me. The result was 5th in the sprint finish and 10th overall. Not bad. One thing I feel needs work is my sprinting and top end speed.

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