Wheels on Willy

Beautiful warm/windy day in Madison. The course was short with a small hill by the start/finish straight.  This is going to be short because there isn't a whole lot to talk about. It was a 4 corner criterium with a small hill. I moved up most of the time on the hill. I did find myself getting to the front easily. Nothing really happened during the race for me, just sitting in trying to stay safe and not get crashed out. One lap to go, I didn't place myself in a very good position and ended up finishing 15th.
There was a lot of; should have, could have, would have that went through my head after the finish. I had the legs to do much better. I wasn't aggressive enough and I should have went earlier, much earlier.Oh, well.
What I think I am going to do this week: Monday, short easy spin, Tuesday, Criterium Practice, Wednesday, not sure if I will do OBC, I might just do my own thing, Thursday, Group ride, Friday off, and for the weekend, not sure what I am doing yet.

Knowing Myself

I was planning on racing Saturday at Muskego Park where I have won before. You get a cool trophy called the Wittig Cup. I didn't want to win it again, but would have liked to help a team mate win it (Travis). Anyways, Saturday morning came I was all loaded ready to head to the races to watch Ryan P. race, but something told me to call him to make sure he went. So, I called him and he didn't go, but was going to go ride. I then tried to get a hold of Travis to see if he was going for sure. I didn't get an answer quickly so opted to not race and go ride with Ryan. Another reason I wasn't really excited about racing was that I had two days off the bike. So, my week of training didn't go as I planned. We rode close to 50 miles and then I was able to hand out with my wife and my brother and his wife.
Sunday I rode down to Extreme and then rode with them just outside of West Bend and then went home. Another 50 miles in. We rode what was the GearGrinder loop. Learning new routes is always fun.
Upcoming Monday-Mow the grass, Tues.-Hill Repeats, Wed.-OBC?, Thurs.-Group Ride, Fri. OFF, Saturday-leg opener. Sunday-Wheels on Willy Criterium. Skipping the road race this weekend and going to go to Madison ready to race.

La Crosse, R.R., T.T., Criterium

I left for La Crosse Saturday morning at 5:30am and was planning on going straight to the road race starting location which was in Minnesota just over the Wisconsin border. I was making really good time, so, I called up my team mate Travis to see if he was going out for breakfast somewhere. He was,so, I met up with his family and his cousins. After breakfast we were able to car pool together for the road race.
At the start of the race I thought it would have went a lot better than it did. Anyways this is how it went down. The race wasn't really a race except on the long steep climb. The first lap I made it up the hill decent staying on Travis's wheel. 2nd lap nothing happened again until the climb and I was towards the back of the field, this was a terrible spot to be. I wish I would have been closer to the front, this would have gave me a lot better chance stay with the group. As they pushed hard up the hill I kept going backwards and couldn't get back on. I did do another lap but decided to call it quits after that. I was suppose to race for 4 laps, oh well.
Next up on the same day was a time trial that went up a bluff for 2.4 miles. I raced within myself, and I thought I would have placed better than I did (last place). I could have maybe pushed a little bit harder but not much. It took me 10min. 30sec. to do the climb.
Finally Sunday was the criterium. The "plan" was to sit in and have Travis lead me out. The race was fast with multiple attacks until finally they let 2 sit out front letting them gain some time every now and then. I did try to do an attack early and someone did join me, but the peloton wasn't having none of it. That is when I decided to just sit in and wait and let Travis do his thing. At 5 laps to go we were still in back and then Travis went to work. He was pulling me up a little every lap. These laps clipped off really quickly and at 1 lap to go we still were a little far back. He pushed hard and was trying to take safe lines and in the last corner he wanted a different line than the one he took, but I still managed to pass a few to the finish line finishing 6th place. He did a great job and I am really excited to have a team mate willing to work for me. Not everyone has that with their team mates. I hope to help return the favor for him soon!
Next up, Monday yard work, Tuesday my criterium practice, Wednesday OBC, Thursday I have to take the day off or ride really early in the morning, Friday off, Saturday Matt Wittig Memorial Criterium. Sunday is mothers day, so I don't know if I will have time.

Re-Charged

I went to Jamaica recently for my brother's wedding. Tammy and I left April 26th and were back home May 2nd at midnight. We had a blast, no help to the weather man. I rained every day and for most part of the day. Still managed to get a little tan though. We didn't let the weather get us down and we made the best of it. It did stop for the wedding and pictures, so lucky.
Back to bike related stuff. Before we left I tried to stress my body a lot knowing I was going to get plenty of recovery. I did ok at this, but, I was hoping to get more stress before I left. Oh well, you can only do so much with the allowed time. I could have used one more hard day of training, so my timing was a little off.
I did get out on Wednesday for the OBC ride. I started from home and met up with the group at the start of their ride. We started pretty calm for the most part and then Joe Curtes wanted to go harder so he started pushing a bit harder on Cedar Creek (?) towards Hwy M. Kept pushing it down Hwy M and then for the most part the ride was ON. I was wondering how my legs were going to react after the time off. I didn't have any problems keeping up and I even tried to help when I could. About midway coming south out of Newburg before one of the sprint signs there was a crash. Well, not really a crash because no one went down. But, there was some carnage, I heard a broken rear derailleur, and some broken spokes on a wheel. Two different people, I did wait along with @ 10 others, to make sure everyone was ok. They were ok, but couldn't resume riding. Mean while most of the group went up the road.
We started working together getting a pace line going, at least the best we could with the different abilities that we had. This was going relatively smooth and we moving along well. We managed to catch the main group by Hwy 60 and Hornes Corners. This for me is great timing, I was able to sit in recover and get ready for the final sprint. I timed this perfect and Jim G. launched early and I waited for the right moment to go. I did pass Jim before the sign, so I am very pleased with my legs.
Thursday I went out too and was able to get in 20 minutes before meeting up with the West Bend group ride that starts at 6pm. It was a small group of only 3, and we had a good tempo ride. We missed Dave H. on the ride!
Anyways I am taking the day off today and have a lot of things to get done before I leave early tomorrow morning. I am headed to Minnesota to do a road race and then to LaCrosse to do a TT on Saturday. I will be doing a criterium on Sunday which is also in LaCrosse. I am plenty fresh, but my fitness is down a little, but when I compare myself to others I feel I am riding pretty strong. I am hoping by the end of the weekend my fitness will be where it was when I left, and if I am lucky maybe even gain some extra fitness.