Memorial Weekend

It wouldn't be a memorial weekend in the last 10-12 years for me if it didn't include a trip down to Iowa for the Memorial Weekend bike races. I did Snake Alley as a junior so that makes about the last 12 years I have made the trip. It is one of my favorite race weekends of the year because I can race 3-4 times over the weekend yet can sit in the park and have a picnic lunch, swim in a pool at the hotel and almost say "relax". Snake Alley is my favorite criterium and one I put on my schedule early in the season.

Going back a week I didn't have much of a chance to update after WORS #2 in Rhinelander, but I didn't really have much to say about it. It was a lot of driving in one day and a sub-par race for me. Not really sure what happened, I warmed up well and felt solid the first lap but faded pretty hard the 2nd and 3rd uncharacteristily. I drank about a 1/2 gallon of water on the way home and still weighed in at a season low of 141.5lbs, a good 5lbs lower than what that scale normally tells me on a lite day. I thought I was well hydrated going into the race, but maybe the higher temps and long drive had something to do with it, anyway, I had a decent race but Brian and Nathan both put the hurt on me and I didn't feel like I could suffer any harder than 90%.

Last week leading up to Memorial weekend I was a little nervous that I wasn't riding as well as I hoped because of Rhinelander. That was probably part of the reason I didn't race the way I should have at Snake Alley on Saturday. My legs were really good that day, better than I expected them to be. I had a great start, nailed my pedal and had a bit of a gap with Tilford over the top of the climb on the first lap. The pavement was still wet from rain but it wasn't affecting me at all, it seemed like the race was split apart pretty good the first 4-5 laps. But, no one made any of those huge efforts to blow it apart for good. I was a little hesitant to do it myself because I feel the snake is my strong point and late in the race when it gets hard, the race blows apart itself. That never really happened this year. I got myself in two strong moves that I though for sure would go to the line, one with Marcotte and Jensen and then later with strong group of 6 which I was sure would be the selection. Both came back and the lead group swelled again.

I stayed well positioned, but too far back going into the snake on the last lap. I came over the top in 7th and finished in 7th but I was a bit disappointed to feel that good and get that result. It wasn't bad, but better positioning would have been a much better result and I was capable of that.

Waiting out the rainstorm - hotel camping

The rest of the weekend is just racing for me and I do it mostly for training. I had a good time racing with the rest of the ISCorp guys and spending time with Ellie and Jamie. Ellie loves being outside and asks whenever we are looking like we are going somewhere if "we, go, side"?

She did pretty awesome considering she missed naps two days in a row and didnt' make it to bed until probably after 10pm both nights when she is normally there by 7.

State road championships will be next on the list this coming Sunday. We should have the strongest team there again and it would be fun to try and go for it this year. Finally some warm weather this week too so it should be a good week to get in a solid bit of training too before Subaru Cup later in the month.