Heeeey yooouuuu guuuyyys

Well once again I must open with I AM STILL ALIVE. I am very sorry that I do not post very often anymore (partly because I am under the impression no one really reads this) but mostly because this semester is kicking my butt and we are only 3 weeks in. Anyways, here is a list of the races I have done since my last post and short race reports to go with them, but nothing like my usual 2 page race reports.

State Championships - as you may have noticed I was 3rd at the State Crit Championship race. I wasn't a slouch while racing either. From the gun I got in a break with one of the hot pink grand rapids riders (as you can tell, I dont know names all that well) and we were out there for 3-4 laps. It felt like every 3rd lap or so there was a prime and I made sure that I was up at the front every time, not for the prime but in case a breakaway started. Crossing the line at the bell lap we were all together and I was sitting at the back of the group. I made some tight cornering and put in a good effort and found the wheel I was looking for....Scott Gifford. Scott looked back and I yelled "FULL GAS!" and he hit it. Right then a rider took a flyer on the inside and Scott did his job perfectly. He threw the hammer down into the headwind and closed on the guy he got me to the final corner like I wanted and when he pulled off he couldn't turn his legs anymore, I launched my move from the last corner, about 220m form the finish line. It was literally at the last second that I was edged out for the win. But it was an intense race and Team MCG rode fantastic keeping the group together and not letting riders go up the road. And a huge thank you to Scott for a wonderful lead out.

Cherry-Roubaix - The crit was short and rainy. It was apparently a hard race as over half the field got dropped and lapped including all the Wolverine riders. My goal was to stay at the front, not crash and sprint at the end. A breakaway eventually formed with York in it so we let it go. This was after about 9 attempts to get a break started many of which I was in. Eventually by the end of the race, the break of 3 won and there was another break of 2 that somehow got away. I took the field sprint for 6th but there wasn't much of a fight as I had the best line through a very nasty and slippery corner. The road race was dry but windy. I felt like crap at the start and didn't think I was going to make it through the race, I was right. The feild split several times, each time MCG had me York and Bush at the front. But it always seemed to come back together. Eventually the winning break was formed of 4 riders that had about a minute on the peloton. Adam was trying to pull them back in but needed help and waved us forward. It was pretty cool to see all 7 MCG guys lined up hammering away trying to shatter the peloton. I was directly in front of Adam and when we made the last turn on the course (we still had 3 laps to go) I looked back and told Adam to hold on. I shattered what was left of the group and pulled York up to the break, then pulled out of the race after chasing the remnants of the peloton for a few miles. York won.

Trohpee - This was a fun race. I was completely laid back and didn't want to try much as I was doing 4 races that weekend. I just stayed with the main group and near the front. Mark kept an eye on me in case I got in trouble or was out of position. Because this was the last chance Pat Robb had to gain points on Todd for the Challenge series, the two of them were attacking and counterattacking each other. Fine with me. Eventually we came to the final climb as a group, Bush tried to take a flyer 2k from the line, which was about 300m too early. As the peloton hit the climb, everyone got stupid and started running into each other. I got pushed to my left and then cut off. But because I had been saving my sprint and was peaking for that weekend, I had the energy to come around just about everyone. I missed 1st place (Cotes) by about half a bike length. Oh well, fun race.

Erie Street - I am not going back. I will not publicly share my opinion on Canadian bike racing.

Devos - 2 races down, 2 to go. This was the last Challenge race of the year and a lot of money on the line. From the gun I went on a solo break to open the legs. The peloton didn't really chase and I didn't try all that hard but it made for a good photo shoot. It was a pretty typical crit. Several breaks, nothing stuck. Lots of primes. I just stayed at the front and watched for any move that I thought would be worth the effort. That move never came and with 1 lap to go, Leadout did exactly what their name implies. I was way out of position at this point but lucky for me, tacked on the back of the Leadout leadout was Kevin Collins and on his wheel was Mr. Lekovish. I made a hard effort to get up there and was really hoping Joe would let me in. He told me afterwords that he didn't want to let anyone on that wheel, but he let me so I thanked him very much. It was a 3up sprint and I am not an amazing sprinter so I was 3rd. Not a bad way to end the Cat 3 season.

I raced the 1/2/3 race and my legs cramped and I dropped out. But not after accidentally getting off the front.

Now to the more recent. CYCLOCROSS
It is that time of the season where the road bikes get knobby tires and skinsuits are back in style. I missed the first weekend of racing due to taking a little time off. But the off season is now over and its back to racing. Yesterday was the Ithaca Grand Prix. I had not touched my cross bike since March until that morning. I donated blood earlier that week. I started running for the first time in 4 years so my legs were in pain. And I never had breakfast, I cant just wake up and eat.

Needless to say, I went into that race with NO expectations. I hadn't done any type of dismounts or remounts and I hadn't ridden since Devos so it was going to be a fun race. The course was quite technical with a lot of turns, 2 run ups and a toboggan run that hurt the legs to ride up. The B race was 7 laps (45 min) and I started from the middle of the group of 25-30ish. In the first half lap there were 2 crashes that I managed to get around and going through the start finish with 6 laps to go, I was in the lead group of 5 way ahead of everyone else. There were 3 Wolverines and my roommate Jason (from Wisconsin) in the group. I started losing contact and the group split up on the 2nd lap. I was feeling pretty crappy on the 3rd lap and a Sandbag rider was about to pass me when he flatted. At this point I was at least 20-25 seconds ahead of the closest person. By the end of the 4th lap I was not feeling too hot and some guys were making ground on me, but on the 5th lap I got a second wind and pulled away again (still never making up any ground on the leading 4 guys). The final 2 laps were just survival and trying to maintain my 5th place. When I got to the amphitheater and went to dismount, my skinsuit got caught on the saddle, I managed to stay upright but not after slaming my bike into the barrier. I also fell approaching the low barriers on the 6th lap, foot didnt release from the pedal.

I did manage to not get caught (very narrowly, like 5-8 seconds) and I did get 5th place. Not bad for the first intense ride I've had since Devos and having donated blood earlier this week.