Tour of Lawrence, Day 1 street sprints

Great way to starty of the Tour of Lawrence last night! In fact it was made even better with the win in the Womens race by Emilie Flanigan of the TREK Stores Team. That's right, 2 wins by the TREK Bicycle Stores sponsored teams. Gotta love it. I really wish I had a picture of Emilie but I had to pick up these two pictures from the local Lawrence paper.

Colton is just on a tear right now. 2 wins last weekend at the Tour of Kansas City and now day 1 at the Tour of Lawrence. I also have to give it up for Nick who ended up 6th yesterday. Here's the newspaer article from the Lawrence paper.

Today we have the KU Campus Circuit race. It's going to be brutal with a really hard course that has a ton of climbing and 100+ degree heat. Lucky for us we have a number of people willing to help out keeping the team hydrated and wet. It's going to be a battle with a number of strong teams in the race but in the end I think it will come down to who can handle the heat the best. 5:30pm start time, guess I should get a few things done around the house before I go.

Toour of Kansas City, Day 2

Day 2 of the Tour of KC was another late start day. Today we went at 4 pm which is not really late but being a home race I couldn't help but get a few things done around the house before heading to the race. When you are racing out of town you tend to relax and just stay rested until race time. But what I did was mostly inside which is good because Sunday was hot!

As for the race, the team came prepared with a ton of ice and water and a few extra bodies to spray, splash, or hand up bottles if allowed. We all warmed up and started the race with ice bags tucked into our jerseys. That was something new for me, I've seen others do it so I figured I had nothing to loose. Overall the race went well for us. We had planned to race aggressively and try to get a group up the road and it worked out after a series of attacks. A group of 10 got away with 5 Mercy riders and that left the rest of us in the field. At that point I did my thing and got to the front of the group and tried to slow the chase. It took a while for the break to get a good gap and it seemed like they were stuck at 20 seconds ahead forever but after a while they finally got out of sight. Then all hell broke loose when Brian from Tradwind and Colton lapped the field with 10 laps to go. The Tradewind guys went to the front and increased the pace the rest of the break couldn't catch on. Then with just a lap to go Shadd jumped off the front of the field and caught the remains of the break with a half a lap to go. About that time Zack picked up Colton an the back side of the course and started the lead out for the finish. At the line Colton got the win with Brian 2nd. After making a huge effort Shadd won the sprint from the rest of the break for 3rd. In the end we finished with 1st,3rd,6th,7th,8th, and 11th.

Not too shabby, tactically we played the game a little better that yesterday and for me I rode a little better. With any luck I'll continue to improve in both fitness and health before next weeks Tour of Lawrence.

No bottle hand ups but a hose worked pretty well.

Nice shot of Shadd and I from Saturday night.

Sundays podium with Shadd, Colton, and Brian.

Tour of Kansas City, Day 1

Colton and Brian battling for the win

Pretty sure Trudy took this picture since I picked it off of Steve's blog but it pretty much sums up the race. Since we had the largest team in the race at 9 riders we planned to be agressive and try to get some guys up the road. The Tradewind Energy guys were there with 5 guys so it was going to come down to a battle between the teams. Overall it went pretty well but we managed to screw up a few breaks that would of been to our advantage as a team. Oh well, after the race we had our post-race meeting to figure out what happened and how to make sure it doesn't happen again. In the end we went 1,3,7,9,12,15, so 6 guys in the money is never a bad thing. Congratulations to Colton for the win!

Mistakes are just part of the growth process of a young team. The team came over to Kansas City to do the shop ride last Thursday and one of the ride leaders came up to me the next day and said that he didn't realize how young the team riders are. I think people forget that we have 4 riders that are under 25 years old and one that is 20. While they are strong, situations come up during races that they have never been in before and the results can get pretty interesting. But that's not nesasaraly a bad thing, it's how you learn and we are a developmental team.

Today is day 2 of the Tour of KC and it's going to be a scorcher. 100+ degrees at a downtowm Criterium. Brings back memories a a few years ago at the  downtown Overland Park crit where it was hot as well.

Tulsa Tough

I just don't know what to say about last weekend in Tulsa. Friday night was awesome and I rode great. Probably the best race I had this year and if it weren't for a little brain fart in the last few laps I would of had a better finish. Unfortunately it wasn't long after the race I started to feel pretty crappy and things went downhill from there. The rest of the weekend pretty much spiraled downhill from there. In each race I had less power and endurance and it became more of a challenge just to finish the races.  I had some symptoms that something was medically wrong but decided to wait until we got home to have it checked out.

Today I spent most of the day going from doctor to doctor but I think we have a solid diagnosis and the treatment plan sounds good. Overall I shouldn't be off the bike too much so even though the Tour of KC may be out the Tour of Lawrence if definitely a go. It's just another setback but what can you do.

Good to know I'm not alone

 I was flipping through a few of my favorite blogs and came across one called Mud and Cowbells, written by Greg Keller (http://www.mudandcowbells.com/). He's a super fast cyclocross rider, bike shop guy, husband, and father to two boys. After reading his latest blog post I find that we have something in common. The desire to balance racing at the highest level we can or to cut back and spend more time with the boys helping them to find the joys of cycling.

I usually don't copy and paste blog posts but he has managed to capture what I have been feeling all season.
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It happened probably a lot sooner than I had ever anticipated. It was the moment when my oldest decided to ride his cross bike...on a mountain bike trail most adults find challenging...with his road tires on. I saw his abilities and his joys and how instinctively he negotiated the trail knowing with precision how to stay light on the bike, not use brakes in the corners and just flow away...away and out of site from mom, dad and little bro.
This isn't a story to gloat about my son. He's 9. And God knows what this kid wants to do with his life. He's just a little guy. For now it is all about opportunities and experiences and ensuring both my sons' lives are rich with them...whatever they are: sport, travel, religion, family, friends, relationships, joy, pain, etc. But my child I can see is falling in love with what I know as one of the purest forms of joy: Riding. And he is emanating the same emotions in his words that I often struggle to find for just...how...good....it...makes...him...feel.
But is it time? Is it time for me to full stop make the switch from wannabe uber racer to an athlete who can balance the goals I still feel in my heart I can achieve and pour myself into my sons forays into the sport to achieve theirs? Is it time? Should racing be a proxy for riding...or riding a proxy to racing? What is the blend and on the meter of selfishness, how do I throttle back and balance more for them?
I'm formulating answers to questions I am still finding about these feelings I'm having and this place in life I am at with my beautiful boys. I want to fly and continue to do so...but not at the expense of not dedicating what I know is required to them. For them. More time to teach the lessons to gain more confidence. To learn more history of why we do what we do. Of the promise of where this sport can take a person. To be more relaxed with it all.
I'll continue the search for the right balance. But I know what is right. The torch is being passed. And it makes me so proud.

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Still thinking about what to do and how to do it but I know it's time. Next season is going to look a bit different.