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Menonomee Park Criterium

My first race of the season was in Menonomee Falls yesterday morning. I had some good hard rides this week, going out on the Tuesday night Trocadero ride and then on the Wednesday lake front group ride. Maybe I beat my legs up a little too much, because things didn't end up going too well for me yesterday. It started with a bad night's sleep, I didn't fall asleep till about 12:30AM, the I woke up at 4:30 and couldn't get back to sleep. I finally did start to doze off again sometime after 6:45, but by then it was almost time to get up and get ready for my race. So, basically, hard rides during the week + no sleep the night before. I got up and got my stuff together and was feeling a ton of pre-race nerves, what's with that? This is a Cat 4/5 road race, nothing on the line whatsoever! But my heart was racing and I couldn't stop fidgeting to save my life.

So, I get out to the race course, it was a perfect day to race, very sunny and about 55 degrees. My goal was to stay right in the top 10-15 riders (out of 66 total), just keep my head out of the wind and go with any potential breaks. As it turned out, the field wasn't letting anything go, so I didn't have to worry about that. I kept checking my heart rate and it was VERY HIGH for me, it stayed between 178 and 186 bpm for the entire race (my max HR is 192). This was annoying me for a couple of reasons: first: I cannot sustain that high of a heart rate for very long, so something had to give; second: my legs felt perfectly fine, I would have rated my level of perceived exertion at about a 7 out of 10. Unfortunately my heart was rating my exertion at about a 9.2 out of 10. Anyway, we came around the starting area and they rang the bell signaling that we were entering our final lap. I was in perfect position, about 4th wheel. I couldn't believe it was already the bell lap, I hadn't even felt like I was racing. I turned to the guy next to me and said "is this seriously the last lap already?" Well, the course was about 1.3 miles long, with no hills. The only tough part of the course was a straightaway on the back stretch that had a fairly strong head/side wind coming at you. As the pace picked up on the last lap, one guy went zipping up past us to put some room on the group, so I picked up his wheel and went with him. We zigged and zagged through the initial turns with the rest of the field not far behind us. We came out onto the back stretch (with the wind) and he started to slow down a tiny bit (understandably), at this point a line of riders started to move up on our right and go past us. I got out of the saddle to accelerate... and that was where the race ended for me. I simply couldn't make the pedals go. I pedaled as hard as I could, but I felt like I was riding my bike in mud. I watched as the main pack rode away from me and into the final corners of the course. Overall I rode a near perfect race, right up until the last half mile. After I lost contact with the group, I just sat up and cruised in to the finish. I am not sure where I ended up, the results come out this week. But I will say that the course was great. I will miss Wisconsin in the spring and summers.

I got home from the race, still a little frustrated with how it ended up, so I decided to take Dirk for a run. We ended up running along the wooded trails adjacent to the Menonomee River Parkway, near our house. We did and out and back run, turning around at the train tracks/little red store in downtown 'Tosa. When we got to mile 8, with only 1 more mile to go before we were home, Dirk pulled me off in to the grass where he proceeded to throw up a few times. It was actually really sad. I kept apologizing to him for making him run with me. It wasn't him who had the bad race after all! We had a nice slow trot back to the house where he walked right into the kitchen and plopped down on the floor. I kept checking to make sure he was still breathing. Fortunately he recovered.

I've got a couple more races scheduled over the next few weeks, so we'll see how it goes. I am pretty sure I used up all my athletic talent when I was 17-18 years old. Oh well, it's still fun to try... kind of.

The Winner Is!!!!!

This is the one that the marketing guru's have dubbed "most professional, most friendly and most memorable". So, I guess that it is the most awesome too. Of course, it won't say "Texas" on the bottom.

Psyche!!!

the image is copyrighted, so I can't get it right now!!!

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Lone Ranger

Sara took Lily to California to help her mom out with managing some family stuff (surgeries, illness etc.) I have been doing everything I can to stay busy because it hurts my heart to think about how much I miss my little baby. I am so used to waking up every morning and seeing her little gummy smile. Dirk paces the house whining, looking around for the girls. Yesterday, to fill my day, I went on a 20 mile bike ride in the morning. Then I came home, put on my soccer gear and headed over to campus for the indoor soccer championship game (which we lost 4-1). That ended our reign as 3 time intramural soccer champs. Bummer. I ran straight home, took a shower and got my golf stuff together (my new clubs) and went over to New Berlin Hills. I met up with 3 of my classmates (Holtan, Griffith and Eddie) and we golfed 18 holes (walking). Then I came home to take Dirk out for a walk. I considered taking him for a run, but I thought my legs might fall off.

Overall it was a fun day. And it kept me busy. I crashed hard last night, so that was good.

I have my 1st bike race of the year this Saturday. I am also making headway on my practice startup. I have the location narrowed down to a couple of intersections in some nice busy areas. I am looking forward to getting out there to seal the deal.

Cycling Update

I put 83 miles on this week, which is good for what I am used to. I did a 52 mile group ride on Wednesday. About 40 people showed up and we ended up heading West towards Holy Hill. Our speeds started off comfortable but as soon as it got hilly some of the pro riders in the group decided to hammer us. I got into the front group of about 15, after getting gapped and bridging up a few times. Finally that group of 15 started splintering off and the 3 top riders (all pro's) rode away. So, the 12 of us regrouped and started a FAST paceline to finish the ride. We had one guy who kept getting dropped, so we had to pull back a few times and let him get back in. We averaged around 25-26 mph for about 20-22 miles of riding (from about mile 20-42). There were some stop signs in there too though. I felt great all through the ride (except when I got dropped off the front group). But I was definitely one of the stronger riders out there.

This morning I got up at 6:00 and headed out to Pewaukee for a solo ride. I decided to to the last 10 miles at race intensity (which is hard alone). I hammered up "hospital hill" and tried to maintain my HR over 170 for the rest of the way. I came pretty close, with a few dips down into the mid-160's. I definitely wanted to throw up. So, that was a pretty good ride.

I am hoping that I can place well in my few races that I end up doing in the next few weeks.