Perry TT/Circuit

I raced the M35+ time trial and circuit in Perry on Saturday.  I didn't expect much, and not much is pretty much what I found.  But I had a great time just being at a race again and watching some teammates pin it on.  Chad, Trey C., John, Eddie, and Jake had solid races.  And I was thrilled to see my wife, Betty Jean, win the W3/4 time trial.

My TT felt odd more than painful - a bad sign.  Usually I have segments of a TT where I can really feel myself getting on top of the gear and in the groove, but I never settled into that rythem on Saturday.  And the old familiar pain wasn't there.  But I think it'll be back soon enough.

I had no clue what to expect in my circuit race.  I actually felt pretty good for the first couple of laps in the field of 20 or so, at which point I convinced myself that my original goal of just sitting in, gathering a few race miles, and finishing anywhere in the group was not really a satisfactory goal.  So when a group of 4 or 5 riders got off the front in lap 3, I made my brilliant move: I decided to bridge.  Call it mission creep.  The first 20 seconds of my semi-sprint-bridge attempt actually wasn't so bad.  But when John Atkins and the group behind me decided to counter-surge (which was simple considering I never broke their elastic and probably didn't stretch it much) my legs were nowhere to be found.  I was immediately gapped.  I gave it one more hard push to catch the wheel of Davies, who was holding on to the chase group for dear life.  I got there about the time we turned into the wind.  I fought for a few more minutes 'till I lost Chad's wheel and saw it was hopeless -- then I turned off the course to get a steady hour of tempo on back roads.

Chad actually fought back solo to the main chase group and finished 2nd in M45+.  Just goes to show that you can sometimes grind your way back from what appears to be a hopeless situation if you stay on the gas.

I'll give it another try in Union City.
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21st Century Reassessment

"Reassessment": a new appraisal or evaluation.

I have never had a month like my last one.  I won't belabor the description - suffice to say I had the flu and other muscular complications.  As a result, Sunday will be 30 days since I have mounted my road bike.  That hasn't happened to me since the 20th century.  I raced Tundra on Feb 19th and I have managed a few spin classes here and there, but I'm definately in uncharted territory.

I'm very dissapointed with how my 2011 has begun.  But in a strange sort of way, I'm now provided with a refreshingly blank slate beginning tomorrow in Perry.  I'm looking forward to seeing Betty Jean enjoy her new TT rig; and I'm going to throw my leg over the Cervelo and have a good time.  Then in the afternoon I'll jump into my first mass start race in a long while and try to hang on.  I have nothing to loose, so I'm going to give it all I've got.  It'll make for an interesting spring.
R
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DNS Southern Cross

I'm very dissapointed to have missed the Southern Cross event in Dahlonega today.  Some kind of bug hit me on Thursday afternoon and it's still pounding away on my.  Sights on Albany now.
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Tundra TT

That's the best weather I've ever seen for Tundra.  I had a 10:36 start time, so it felt like May by the time I started.  But the late start meant lots of walkers, runners, and recreational cyclists were out on the Silver Comet.  It made for a somewhat dicey ride.  To make matters slightly more sketchy, the Tundra starts are based on sign-up date, not by category or speed, so faster racers have to pass lots of slower racers.  I think they should correct that for future years.

In any case, I had a good ride, finishing in 29:23 (24.2 mph) - about 30 seconds faster than last year.  So I was pleased with my performance.  A podium would have been nice, but I'll settle for 6th place in Masters 35+.

Betty Jean rode her first Tundra as well.  She rode well, finishing in around 33 minutes - top 10 in a field of 70 or so Cat 4 women.  A good start for her TT season.

And lastly, I have to do a shout out to one other Monticello rider, Alan Black.  Alan is an almost olympic-class runner who has started riding a bike.  He has a massive aerobic engine and will likely progress rapidly as he gets more cycling miles in his legs.

Three Jasper County riders from a populatoin of only about 12,000.  Not bad per capita participation.

Robert Jordan Race Reports

Check here to see race 2011 reports from Robert Jordan.