So I've created a new blog for my non-bikeracing related adventures.
Head over to www.katsutanda.com for the new stuff and be sure to bookmark it.
Since I'm not really racing right now, this blog might not get a whole lot of updates (as you can see my last post was in October.)
Wednesday, May 02, 2012
Sunday, October 02, 2011
GearFest and John Bryan
Three races in two days...
Boy is that rough.
I drove up to Columbus with Mike Friday evening to his sister's place so we can cut down on our morning drive. I was racing Single Speed both days so my race is pretty early at 10:15a. Man getting up early sucks. I am used to getting up late and racing at 2pm or so. Mike's race is two races later so having him tag along gave him time to warm up and ride the course.
Saturday was a new venue at the GearFest outdoor festival. 40's and drizzling did not make for a warm morning but it is cyclocross and you just have to deal with it. The course was fairly flat with lots of twisty stuff. The slick mud made cornering difficult so I popped on the Rhinos and most of my traction concerns disappeared.
I got the holeshot and motored on. I led the first lap and by the second lap, I got caught by the Trek Store Cinci guy. I let him pull me around the flat sections until he took a turn rather wide and I cut in and did a perfect block pass. I let the rest of the lap until he passed me later on and I decided to take it easy and sit on. During this time, I realized how poor a bike handler he was and I was much better in the slick turns. I knew if I led in the technical sections I can easily make it to the finish and win.
So last lap, I made sure I was in front on the last half of the lap. About 1/3 of a lap to go, there is a bunnyhopable log, though neither of us bunnyhopped it. I went over it clean and shortly after, He passed me. Big mental mistake. From there it was game over because he was riding pretty dirty and purposely blocking. Nearing the end, there was one spot where I could ride dirty and take a turn wide and take him out, but I played clean and thus could not pass and was first loser.
Back to Columbus for the night until we got up the next day for John Bryan.
John Bryan is one of my favorite courses. It is deceivingly hard, getting progressively harder each lap. This year's course layout eliminated the road start, had lots of up and down. I especially liked in the second half of the course, you shoot down the entire park, hitting a bit of single track as well.
The single speed race had some new faces and my new nemesis was not present. Again I got the hole shot and led the first lap. Rudy Sroka caught up to me and put some time on me on the up and down off camber section right after the finish line. I knew he had an advantage there because of his fatter 29'er tires. I was able to catch back up and rode with him to the bottom of the course. Rudy was able to bunny hop the log barriers and again put time on me. I was able to catch back up and passed him on the uphill drag. Back to the up/down section he put time on me and from there I had to chase hard but eventually gave up since I had second in the bag and I was racing the Elite race later on.
Not a whole lot to say about the Elite race. I started in the back and had to make up a lot of ground. I certainly felt the efforts of Saturday and the SS race earlier in the day. By the second lap, I started to feel good and started to pass people. Then I ran out of gas and started going backwards. I also noticed I was not shifting my bike as often as I should. Since I have been predominately riding and racing single speed, I was pushing large gears over stuff I should have shifted.
Mike did well this weekend too. A second on Saturday and third on Sunday. Both days were marred by dropping his chain which we hope we can remedy with a chainguard. Well that is if he decides to race again. Mike said on Sunday that several people came up to him and called him a sandbagger and disrespected him in his face. I'm all for having light heckling, calling out sandbaggers, but only while they are racing. I don't see what there is to gain from pulling people aside and disrespecting them in their face. People say they like cross because it is more chill and less Roadie Rage, but it seems like the sandbagger ridicule is starting to get out of hand.
Next week is Gun Club and I haven't decided if I am racing yet. I probably should since my racing days are slightly limited due to other weekend commitments.
Boy is that rough.
I drove up to Columbus with Mike Friday evening to his sister's place so we can cut down on our morning drive. I was racing Single Speed both days so my race is pretty early at 10:15a. Man getting up early sucks. I am used to getting up late and racing at 2pm or so. Mike's race is two races later so having him tag along gave him time to warm up and ride the course.
Saturday was a new venue at the GearFest outdoor festival. 40's and drizzling did not make for a warm morning but it is cyclocross and you just have to deal with it. The course was fairly flat with lots of twisty stuff. The slick mud made cornering difficult so I popped on the Rhinos and most of my traction concerns disappeared.
I got the holeshot and motored on. I led the first lap and by the second lap, I got caught by the Trek Store Cinci guy. I let him pull me around the flat sections until he took a turn rather wide and I cut in and did a perfect block pass. I let the rest of the lap until he passed me later on and I decided to take it easy and sit on. During this time, I realized how poor a bike handler he was and I was much better in the slick turns. I knew if I led in the technical sections I can easily make it to the finish and win.
So last lap, I made sure I was in front on the last half of the lap. About 1/3 of a lap to go, there is a bunnyhopable log, though neither of us bunnyhopped it. I went over it clean and shortly after, He passed me. Big mental mistake. From there it was game over because he was riding pretty dirty and purposely blocking. Nearing the end, there was one spot where I could ride dirty and take a turn wide and take him out, but I played clean and thus could not pass and was first loser.
Back to Columbus for the night until we got up the next day for John Bryan.
John Bryan is one of my favorite courses. It is deceivingly hard, getting progressively harder each lap. This year's course layout eliminated the road start, had lots of up and down. I especially liked in the second half of the course, you shoot down the entire park, hitting a bit of single track as well.
The single speed race had some new faces and my new nemesis was not present. Again I got the hole shot and led the first lap. Rudy Sroka caught up to me and put some time on me on the up and down off camber section right after the finish line. I knew he had an advantage there because of his fatter 29'er tires. I was able to catch back up and rode with him to the bottom of the course. Rudy was able to bunny hop the log barriers and again put time on me. I was able to catch back up and passed him on the uphill drag. Back to the up/down section he put time on me and from there I had to chase hard but eventually gave up since I had second in the bag and I was racing the Elite race later on.
Not a whole lot to say about the Elite race. I started in the back and had to make up a lot of ground. I certainly felt the efforts of Saturday and the SS race earlier in the day. By the second lap, I started to feel good and started to pass people. Then I ran out of gas and started going backwards. I also noticed I was not shifting my bike as often as I should. Since I have been predominately riding and racing single speed, I was pushing large gears over stuff I should have shifted.
Mike did well this weekend too. A second on Saturday and third on Sunday. Both days were marred by dropping his chain which we hope we can remedy with a chainguard. Well that is if he decides to race again. Mike said on Sunday that several people came up to him and called him a sandbagger and disrespected him in his face. I'm all for having light heckling, calling out sandbaggers, but only while they are racing. I don't see what there is to gain from pulling people aside and disrespecting them in their face. People say they like cross because it is more chill and less Roadie Rage, but it seems like the sandbagger ridicule is starting to get out of hand.
Next week is Gun Club and I haven't decided if I am racing yet. I probably should since my racing days are slightly limited due to other weekend commitments.
Friday, August 19, 2011
It's been too long
It's been way too long since I last updated this blog. Almost a year. I am going to try to keep up with updating this cross season.
Anyway, I finally graduated and received my undergraduate degree in Computer Science with a minor in business. It has been an epic journey but I got it done, more or less to please my parents. Has my CS degree gotten me the $50K+ dream job that everyone told me about when I was in High School? Nope, not at all. If I could do it over again, I would have gone to a tech school and learned to become an electrician, plumber or some other trade job that makes money by fixing or making things. Ok, rant over...
I've have some new bikes and new products coming in for cross season so I'll be doing reviews of cool stuff as I get them in hand. Look for an e.13 XCX-ST-CX (lots of letters) chainguide, TRP CX 8.4 brakes, All-City Nature Boy Zona Limited Edition Frame and a few others in the coming weeks.
I'm also going to be attending Interbike this year and managed to get an entry into the Wheelers and Dealers Cross Vegas race so keep an eye on this blog for the latest in cool bike products.
Also don't forget weekly race updates on how I'm doing (or sucking)
Cheers
Anyway, I finally graduated and received my undergraduate degree in Computer Science with a minor in business. It has been an epic journey but I got it done, more or less to please my parents. Has my CS degree gotten me the $50K+ dream job that everyone told me about when I was in High School? Nope, not at all. If I could do it over again, I would have gone to a tech school and learned to become an electrician, plumber or some other trade job that makes money by fixing or making things. Ok, rant over...
I've have some new bikes and new products coming in for cross season so I'll be doing reviews of cool stuff as I get them in hand. Look for an e.13 XCX-ST-CX (lots of letters) chainguide, TRP CX 8.4 brakes, All-City Nature Boy Zona Limited Edition Frame and a few others in the coming weeks.
I'm also going to be attending Interbike this year and managed to get an entry into the Wheelers and Dealers Cross Vegas race so keep an eye on this blog for the latest in cool bike products.
Also don't forget weekly race updates on how I'm doing (or sucking)
Cheers
Monday, October 18, 2010
Cap City, UCI3, Homecoming Redskins
I'm slacking again! Its been a while since my last update with was Kings Cross so I'm just gonna throw down some stuff as I remember it.
After Kings CX, my next race wasn't for 2 weeks. I decided to do the Cap City race at Big Run. It was hot on Saturday and then cold and Rainy on Sunday. Summer then to cross weather overnight. A really nice course and which I liked when it was muddier. It dried as my race went on and I couldn't two wheel drift as much on the off camber stuff. I couldn't really get things going so I kinda just rode the race for training.
I had lost serious motivation to train somewhere in the year and a few weeks ago, I sorta decided to just ride, go race and have fun. Not really training means my performance has suffered but all is good. Much rather have fun than dig a deeper hole.
UCI3 was next and this race weekend is always a blast. I stayed with Zach again and did all three days in the Cat 2/3 category. I was originally registered for UCI Elite but with my lack of form and motivation, I decided against it. So from a 2nd or 3rd row start (I was the 3rd person to register for elites), I went to the back of 100 guys. Not the place you want to start but I was really just racing for training and experience.
Friday's course was at Dovou again but a totally different course. Hard, dry, dusty and bumpy. I had my best result of the weekend here at 27th. Not bad for starting in the back. I actually liked this course because it was wide open and required more skill than the other two days. I was able to get around a lot of people through the off camber stuff and power away on the straights. However, the course was rough and shredded up my tires.
Saturday was a very similar course to last year at Sunset park. With more people and a tighter course, I really didn't have too high of hopes. We got rolling and I really couldn't open anything up for two laps. Many of the corners only had one ridable line and it was always too slow to get off and run. FAIL!
Sunday at Harbin park was a better passing course but again starting behind a million people didn't help. Again very similar course. Since it was dry and dusty, I decided to ride my Dugast Rhinos which hooked up a lot better in the corners. However on the last lap, on the section of the course where there is a huge G-Out, I flatted my rear. SUCK! I was already past the pit and I just had to ride back in to the finish. All the people I passed in the last two laps passed me back. Oh well. Luckily back home, a little Stans saved the tire.
The better part of the weekend was helping out Andys and Kirk help Jeremy Powers and Kaitlin Antonneau. Its fun working and helping out, especially when they appreciate the work you are doing.
Now this past weekend was the mayhem known as OU Homecoming. For the past 3 or 4 years, Isaiah and I have had not so great experiences. I won't elaborate any further. However this year, went without a hitch and was enjoyable. We rode 3 hours on Friday, got drunk at night, woke up and rode two hours on Saturday and then got drunk again. We found Greg on Saturday and went up to a Swim team house party and rocked out until the OSU game was over. You should have seen Greg when the Buckeyes lost. It was like the world was ending for him.
On Sunday, my brother and I drove out to Washington DC to watch the Redskins play the Colts. Yeah I guess I could go to Indy which is considerably closer, but I have Season tickets to the Skins so I'll drive the extra hours. We left Athens around 10:30, got to DC around 5:30. Parked my car, checked out our sleeping arrangements at Zach's brother's place (THANKS again! I'll call you to thank you soon), then hopped on the Metro to the stadium. This was my first NFL game so it was an experience.
As you would expect, the Metro got more and more crowded as the train got closer to the stadium. The Metro station is about a mile from the stadium so a quick 20 minute walk among thousand of other fans was pretty cool. As we walked, we passed by all the parking and everyone already drunk from tailgating.
I think we got there about an hour before kick off so we bought our overpriced stadium food, which was actually pretty large portion, and found our seats. I skipped the $8 beers since I had already consumed plenty of it the past two days. Our seats are up in the upper bowl endzone. Pretty nosebleed on paper, but you can actually see the whole field and its a good view. There is also a huge jumbo screen on the other endzone so you can see everything.
It was a very good game but unfortunately the Redskins lost by a field goal. The season is still early and we are still only 3 and 3. Plenty of season left to get going. At least we are doing a lot better than then 1-4 Cowboys.
Once McNabb missed the 4th and 10 throw in the 2 minute warning, it was time to get up and go. A mad dash back to the metro station so we can get back. Lucky for us, we were able to get a seat rather than standing and on our way back. We got to Eric's place and crashed for a few hours. I went to bed at 1am and the alarm went off at 4:30. My brother had to catch a 6am flight back to Dallas from Reagan International. The airport was only about 20 minutes away so we were out the door by around 4:45, got to the car and dropped him off at the terminal around 5:15.
Lucky for him he got to fly as his flight was only about 2:30-3hrs with a 30 minute drive from the airport. I had to drive 6-7 hours back to Athens. I find that driving up to 4 hours is manageable and not too much of a chore, but once past that, I really don't care for it. Especially when running on low sleep all weekend. I have to say, DC is awake and kicking at 5am in the morning. Luckily I was going out of the city and really didn't have to deal with traffic except for the 270 495 split. For some reason, the 495 exit was shut down by police.
On the way to DC, we stopped twice. On my way home, I had to stop 3 times with a short nap at a rest station. I made it back to Athens around noon, just in time for my 1pm class.
Next weekend I'm on the road again, heading down to Louisville for the USGP. Since I didn't want to fight through 130+ guys in the 2/3 field, and didn't want to get crushed in the 60+ Elite field, I'm signed up in the less than 10 Single Speed field. Although we start right behind the 2/3 field, I have a lot greater chance of climbing up on that podium!
After Kings CX, my next race wasn't for 2 weeks. I decided to do the Cap City race at Big Run. It was hot on Saturday and then cold and Rainy on Sunday. Summer then to cross weather overnight. A really nice course and which I liked when it was muddier. It dried as my race went on and I couldn't two wheel drift as much on the off camber stuff. I couldn't really get things going so I kinda just rode the race for training.
I had lost serious motivation to train somewhere in the year and a few weeks ago, I sorta decided to just ride, go race and have fun. Not really training means my performance has suffered but all is good. Much rather have fun than dig a deeper hole.
UCI3 was next and this race weekend is always a blast. I stayed with Zach again and did all three days in the Cat 2/3 category. I was originally registered for UCI Elite but with my lack of form and motivation, I decided against it. So from a 2nd or 3rd row start (I was the 3rd person to register for elites), I went to the back of 100 guys. Not the place you want to start but I was really just racing for training and experience.
Friday's course was at Dovou again but a totally different course. Hard, dry, dusty and bumpy. I had my best result of the weekend here at 27th. Not bad for starting in the back. I actually liked this course because it was wide open and required more skill than the other two days. I was able to get around a lot of people through the off camber stuff and power away on the straights. However, the course was rough and shredded up my tires.
Saturday was a very similar course to last year at Sunset park. With more people and a tighter course, I really didn't have too high of hopes. We got rolling and I really couldn't open anything up for two laps. Many of the corners only had one ridable line and it was always too slow to get off and run. FAIL!
Sunday at Harbin park was a better passing course but again starting behind a million people didn't help. Again very similar course. Since it was dry and dusty, I decided to ride my Dugast Rhinos which hooked up a lot better in the corners. However on the last lap, on the section of the course where there is a huge G-Out, I flatted my rear. SUCK! I was already past the pit and I just had to ride back in to the finish. All the people I passed in the last two laps passed me back. Oh well. Luckily back home, a little Stans saved the tire.
The better part of the weekend was helping out Andys and Kirk help Jeremy Powers and Kaitlin Antonneau. Its fun working and helping out, especially when they appreciate the work you are doing.
Now this past weekend was the mayhem known as OU Homecoming. For the past 3 or 4 years, Isaiah and I have had not so great experiences. I won't elaborate any further. However this year, went without a hitch and was enjoyable. We rode 3 hours on Friday, got drunk at night, woke up and rode two hours on Saturday and then got drunk again. We found Greg on Saturday and went up to a Swim team house party and rocked out until the OSU game was over. You should have seen Greg when the Buckeyes lost. It was like the world was ending for him.
On Sunday, my brother and I drove out to Washington DC to watch the Redskins play the Colts. Yeah I guess I could go to Indy which is considerably closer, but I have Season tickets to the Skins so I'll drive the extra hours. We left Athens around 10:30, got to DC around 5:30. Parked my car, checked out our sleeping arrangements at Zach's brother's place (THANKS again! I'll call you to thank you soon), then hopped on the Metro to the stadium. This was my first NFL game so it was an experience.
As you would expect, the Metro got more and more crowded as the train got closer to the stadium. The Metro station is about a mile from the stadium so a quick 20 minute walk among thousand of other fans was pretty cool. As we walked, we passed by all the parking and everyone already drunk from tailgating.
I think we got there about an hour before kick off so we bought our overpriced stadium food, which was actually pretty large portion, and found our seats. I skipped the $8 beers since I had already consumed plenty of it the past two days. Our seats are up in the upper bowl endzone. Pretty nosebleed on paper, but you can actually see the whole field and its a good view. There is also a huge jumbo screen on the other endzone so you can see everything.
It was a very good game but unfortunately the Redskins lost by a field goal. The season is still early and we are still only 3 and 3. Plenty of season left to get going. At least we are doing a lot better than then 1-4 Cowboys.
Once McNabb missed the 4th and 10 throw in the 2 minute warning, it was time to get up and go. A mad dash back to the metro station so we can get back. Lucky for us, we were able to get a seat rather than standing and on our way back. We got to Eric's place and crashed for a few hours. I went to bed at 1am and the alarm went off at 4:30. My brother had to catch a 6am flight back to Dallas from Reagan International. The airport was only about 20 minutes away so we were out the door by around 4:45, got to the car and dropped him off at the terminal around 5:15.
Lucky for him he got to fly as his flight was only about 2:30-3hrs with a 30 minute drive from the airport. I had to drive 6-7 hours back to Athens. I find that driving up to 4 hours is manageable and not too much of a chore, but once past that, I really don't care for it. Especially when running on low sleep all weekend. I have to say, DC is awake and kicking at 5am in the morning. Luckily I was going out of the city and really didn't have to deal with traffic except for the 270 495 split. For some reason, the 495 exit was shut down by police.
On the way to DC, we stopped twice. On my way home, I had to stop 3 times with a short nap at a rest station. I made it back to Athens around noon, just in time for my 1pm class.
Next weekend I'm on the road again, heading down to Louisville for the USGP. Since I didn't want to fight through 130+ guys in the 2/3 field, and didn't want to get crushed in the 60+ Elite field, I'm signed up in the less than 10 Single Speed field. Although we start right behind the 2/3 field, I have a lot greater chance of climbing up on that podium!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Kings Cross
Well the first cross weekend has come and gone and simply put, I need to put some work in.
I did fairly well on Saturday with a 16th place finish, but Sunday was abysmal. I was completely torn up from the day before and couldn't put anything down. Second to last lap, I saw eventual winner Josh Johnson coming up fast. Not wanting to get lapped, I turned on the jets and tried to beat him to the line. Unfortunately in cross, you can't just go fast cause you have to corner. I wiped out in one corner and had to quickly scramble to get up and start going again.
Off weekend then probably doing the first cap city race in two weeks
I did fairly well on Saturday with a 16th place finish, but Sunday was abysmal. I was completely torn up from the day before and couldn't put anything down. Second to last lap, I saw eventual winner Josh Johnson coming up fast. Not wanting to get lapped, I turned on the jets and tried to beat him to the line. Unfortunately in cross, you can't just go fast cause you have to corner. I wiped out in one corner and had to quickly scramble to get up and start going again.
Off weekend then probably doing the first cap city race in two weeks
Thursday, August 26, 2010
much needed Update
So its been a while since I've last updated this blog. To sum it up briefly, not a lot has happened.
I continued racing till about the end of July and then after the Columbus Criterium, I took two weeks off the bike. This two week break was much needed for a physical and most importantly, mental break. During this time, I refound my love for video games starting with Starcraft 2. In fact, my computer wasn't really adequate to play so I upgraded my equipment!
Also during that time, I helped my brother move to Dallas, TX. We drove out on a Friday in on stretch. This was the first time I was in a car for more than 14 hours (my previous record was driving to Daytona). With stops it took us about 18 hours. We left Athens at 12:50pm EDT and arrived at 6am CDT. Awesome, way ahead of schedule since his rental office didn't open till 10am.
Dallas is a cool town and definitely would like to spend some more time than the two days I was there. Lucky for me, plane tickets aren't all too expensive and I can make it down there when I have some time.
After that break, it was time to get back on the bike. I got a new 2011 Giant TCX with Sram Rival I've been rocking. Its pretty sweet and has some new design features from last year. Slight geo revisions and BB90. Giant claims 5% BB stiffness over last years and I definitely feel it. The slightly soft BB wasn't a huge deal (or noticeable) when racing cross since I'm running tires as low as 15psi, but training on the road its definitely a plus.
The season starts up in about a month and I'm totally excited.
I continued racing till about the end of July and then after the Columbus Criterium, I took two weeks off the bike. This two week break was much needed for a physical and most importantly, mental break. During this time, I refound my love for video games starting with Starcraft 2. In fact, my computer wasn't really adequate to play so I upgraded my equipment!
Also during that time, I helped my brother move to Dallas, TX. We drove out on a Friday in on stretch. This was the first time I was in a car for more than 14 hours (my previous record was driving to Daytona). With stops it took us about 18 hours. We left Athens at 12:50pm EDT and arrived at 6am CDT. Awesome, way ahead of schedule since his rental office didn't open till 10am.
Dallas is a cool town and definitely would like to spend some more time than the two days I was there. Lucky for me, plane tickets aren't all too expensive and I can make it down there when I have some time.
After that break, it was time to get back on the bike. I got a new 2011 Giant TCX with Sram Rival I've been rocking. Its pretty sweet and has some new design features from last year. Slight geo revisions and BB90. Giant claims 5% BB stiffness over last years and I definitely feel it. The slightly soft BB wasn't a huge deal (or noticeable) when racing cross since I'm running tires as low as 15psi, but training on the road its definitely a plus.
The season starts up in about a month and I'm totally excited.
Monday, July 05, 2010
Zanesville Criterium
It's been a few weeks since I last updated but not much has really gone on. After Mont Pleasant, I haven't raced. I did however racked up a lot of miles and hours. Record high of almost 67 hours, nearly 1100 miles for the month of June. Not too shabby. In all honesty, racing keeps my hours/miles in check. In that time span, I did get bitten by a dog during a training ride and was put on antibiotics. That knocked me out for a week. While I could somewhat do the power, it was very miserable. Once I was off of it, I got back into some decent form.
So on Saturday, headed to Zanesville for the Yellow Ribbon criterium. A nice fast 6 corner course. The corners flowed well and you didn't have to use brakes. The earlier fields had good turnout but once again, the 1/2/3 field was a little lacking. I seriously think Ohio should start either A: combined 1/2/3 with no separate 3 field, or B: make it 2/3 (and screw the 1's), especially for these smaller races.
Anyway some 12 of us started and we got to business fairly quickly. In a few laps, the winning break of Shawn Adams, Brent Martin and one other guy rolled off the front. Andys was also in there but was dropped out of it. I saw the move go and was sitting 2nd or 3rd wheel and really thought about trying to go and make it across. But it was that situation of do I put all my eggs in one basket and try to make it? or just wait and see. The gap was growing and I knew if I didn't make it across, I might be spit out the back. I decided to just sit and wait.
Our group chased and held steady for a while, some 15-20 seconds. John made a dig and could almost taste it, but just didn't have that extra bit to make it across. The thought did come across my mind to bridge up to John and get the two of us across but the gap wasn't large enough. I probably would have just brought the whole field back together. So I played the teammate card and sat in and waited. John eventually came back in.
Laps later, we were at a point where we were not going to catch the 3 off the front. John rolled away again at around 6 to go and it was a waiting game. Matson and another guy were 1-2 and I was third wheel. The 2nd guy wouldn't pull through and we went 2 or so laps around with Matson driving the field. 4 to go Burns jumped to get up to John and then just kept going. He had a gap and into the headwind section, I attacked to bridge up to Burns.
We both got clear and worked hard to make sure the field would not catch us. Going into the last lap, we were pretty much clear as long as we didn't play too much cat and mouse. Burns attacked into the last corner and that was pretty much it. I chased but he beat me by about a bike length.
5th place. Not too bad and I've finished 5th in all the crits I've finished. Hopefully I can change that to a better result in the coming weeks.
Tour of the Valley is next up and will be a major beat down. Lots of heavy hitters and my goal of the weekend is to survive.
So on Saturday, headed to Zanesville for the Yellow Ribbon criterium. A nice fast 6 corner course. The corners flowed well and you didn't have to use brakes. The earlier fields had good turnout but once again, the 1/2/3 field was a little lacking. I seriously think Ohio should start either A: combined 1/2/3 with no separate 3 field, or B: make it 2/3 (and screw the 1's), especially for these smaller races.
Anyway some 12 of us started and we got to business fairly quickly. In a few laps, the winning break of Shawn Adams, Brent Martin and one other guy rolled off the front. Andys was also in there but was dropped out of it. I saw the move go and was sitting 2nd or 3rd wheel and really thought about trying to go and make it across. But it was that situation of do I put all my eggs in one basket and try to make it? or just wait and see. The gap was growing and I knew if I didn't make it across, I might be spit out the back. I decided to just sit and wait.
Our group chased and held steady for a while, some 15-20 seconds. John made a dig and could almost taste it, but just didn't have that extra bit to make it across. The thought did come across my mind to bridge up to John and get the two of us across but the gap wasn't large enough. I probably would have just brought the whole field back together. So I played the teammate card and sat in and waited. John eventually came back in.
Laps later, we were at a point where we were not going to catch the 3 off the front. John rolled away again at around 6 to go and it was a waiting game. Matson and another guy were 1-2 and I was third wheel. The 2nd guy wouldn't pull through and we went 2 or so laps around with Matson driving the field. 4 to go Burns jumped to get up to John and then just kept going. He had a gap and into the headwind section, I attacked to bridge up to Burns.
We both got clear and worked hard to make sure the field would not catch us. Going into the last lap, we were pretty much clear as long as we didn't play too much cat and mouse. Burns attacked into the last corner and that was pretty much it. I chased but he beat me by about a bike length.
5th place. Not too bad and I've finished 5th in all the crits I've finished. Hopefully I can change that to a better result in the coming weeks.
Tour of the Valley is next up and will be a major beat down. Lots of heavy hitters and my goal of the weekend is to survive.
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