NRC Crit aka The Big Dance

Well I survived. That is all I can say about the Chris Thater Memorial Race Weekend. I had some hopes and goals for the weekend . . .none of them came to fruition. Character. It is all about building character. I must have built some somewhere this weekend.

I won’t give you play by play. To be honest our results this weekend don’t warrant it. Here are some highlights:

SATTURDAY:
We predicted a break would stay away: It did, without any of us in it.

We predict Ramon Benetiz (US Postal Masters Squad) would be the man to watch: He initiated the winning break., without us covering it.

I moved into the Top 10 with 7 laps to go, didn’t show any patience and tried to bridge to a small chase group that had formed off the front. All I really accomplished was stringing out the bunch, dragging them to the chase group and blowing my legs for the last lap surges. Typical Wilson bike racing.

Ended up 37th, no where near the Top 20 and the cash. Goal No.1 denied.

SUNDAY:
The big dance. 125 riders. 6 corner 1.2 mile circuit with a hill. Many nasty pros: Colavita, Navigators, Sierra Nevada, Jittery Joes, Healthnet.

Lap 1-no problems.
Lap 2- Still no problems sitting 30-40th
Lap 3- Attack on the hill, I am in hurt central.
Lap 4- I am in the back third of the bunch and coming unraveled
Lap 5- Things seemed to mellow and I started to move up.
Lap 6- Some “pro” dumps his bike in turn 3, I bunny hop onto the curb (saving the Reynolds carbons!) and chase to close the now 20 meter gap.
Lap 7- Gap closed. Legs done, toast, rubber, adios.
Lap 8-10: barely hang on the back until popped for good on the climb.
Game over.

So my first attempt at an NRC race was brutal, as expected. I was hoping to make it to the halfway point. It may have been an unrealistic goal considering there were very few amateurs left at the end.

Back to the drawing board.
Training continues this week as scheduled. Chris Thater gave me two great days of high load racing and now I am back LT threshold work this week. Rest day today, sprints tomorrow, low rpm lt repeats on Wednesday.

More tomorrow.