The Road Season Begins

It's been a busy couple of weeks, with all of the training and racing going on I figured why not throw a puppy into the mix. You see, we planned on getting a puppy but not quite this soon. But the opportunity came to get a 3 month old chocolate lab pup from Wayside Waifs we decided to get her. It's not the perfect time to get a puppy but like kids, if you wait until the time is right you will never have kids. So with the shop getting busy, a new puppy, kids soccer, and attempting to train, it's was time to go racing. Last week we started off the season with the Hell's Kitchen Road Race. It was both good and bad for the team. Some of the guys rode great and some did not. Unfortunately I was in the group of guys that had bad legs on race day. I know that I don't recover as well as I used to so 130 mile the day before a race is not a good thing.

This week we were off to the NWA Classic Road Race near Fayetteville AR. Early weather predictions were for warm temps and light winds. The morning of the race the weather was quite different, mid 30's and an increasing wind. Most of the team spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out what clothes to wear to stay warm but not overheat.

It was really nice to get the team van last week at camp. The whole crew can fit in there pretty easy and it's nice to be able to get your kit on in a warm place. The NWA race was a pretty crazy trip. Up at 3:30am to get over to the meeting place, load the van, and roll out at 4:30am. Race start time was 10am and we arrived with plenty of time to get ready to race. I even rode around a bit to attempt to warm up a bit but that was tough with the cold temps.

So the race starts and right off the bat a BMC guy lights it up and we all struggle to get going so early in the race. The race course itself is a little over 20 miles and in a rectangle shape. Naturally, the long sides of the course had a fairly strong cross wind so we were lined up in the gutter or on the center line all day. On the first lap there was a small break and we put a few guys on the front to keep them close. It worked and the break cam back but soon after on 2nd lap 3 more guys rolled away and quickly got some time on the field. The Mercy team had 4 guys on the front and started to pull the break back but no other team wanted to help to bring the break back. After 15 miles of pulling into the wind our guys were burnt out and the break rode away from the field. About half way through the 3rd and final lap the attacks started but none stayed away until we hit the bigger of two climbs on the course. A group got away with one of our guys in it. I ended up in the 3rd group on the road but was cramping badly and trying to hang onto the end of the group. The run in to the finish was a barn burner as all of the groups were chasing the group in front of them. Austin continues impress with some strong riding during the race and a 7th place finish in the end.  The rest of the team finished in the top 20 so overall it was a pretty good race. Personally the race was an improvement over the previous weeks race as I felt better

but my legs are still just not right. Hopefully warmer weather will help and maybe.....a little more sleep as well.

Brad stuck around home in Ft Collins CO, and got in a race out there. I looked all over and couldn't find results anywhere. oh well.....he looks good.

After crushing at the Hell's Kitchen Road Race Joe headed out to California for the San Dimas Stage Race. He had a great race and ended up with the leaders jersey in the U-24 race.

Joe's team has great kit's! I grabbed a few pictures from PodiumInsight. Lyne travels to all the big domestic races so if you want to see pic's and write ups check her out.

I got my wheels ready for the weekends race with the help of Carly.

It was tough work for her. Time for a nap!

It's going to be another crazy race weekend this week. Mathgeek has quarter end at work so I have the keep track of the kids. Add in a new puppy and a road trip with the kids is out of the question. Looks like antoher late night drive to the race and then a sprint back.

I've got to go to bed, since I 'm falling asleep as I write this it should be an interesting read tomorrow.