I am official

Ok, so I lied about Cherokee being the last mtb race. I did another local race at Waverly Park this past sunday. It was a really great day out and just couldn't help but go out and have some fun. Its a climbier course which really suits me, and I ended up finishing eighth, and shelled some folks along the way.

Now back to more important business at hand. Last week's cross practice, in a word, throwdown. I showed up a little late, and the rest of the crew was on a warmup lap. I joined in and we gathered up to decide on the efforts. 4 laps with rotating leaders, and pretty high pace. I was one of the four leaders, which included Curtis Tolson, Marcus Moran, and a Calistoga roadie. Curtis is a former trackie, has stars and stripes, and is in general a crazy strong rider. I was stoked to gap him on my lap that I led, and just put a hurt on him. The rest of the pack was not happy with the pace we set, but its time to train.

So, all in all, I led two out of the eight laps, but never was further back than fourth. So I really didn't get any break the whole time. My legs felt super strong, and my handling skills are there. My dismount and remount skills have also magically showed up almost better than I left them. Each lap I was up front, I would gap the field by around 5 to 6 seconds! I am thrilled with how things are going training wise, and that doesn't even include what happened that morning.


Mary Catherine and I have been working to get our own Cross and MTB team going for a while. She has been gathering us sponsors for most of the summer and now we have finally landed our presenting sponsor. Chrysalis Ventures is a venture capitalist group based here in Louisville that is all about taking really small companies or companies in their infancy and making them grow. Its a great opportunity for us both, and we will soon be rocking some super sweet blue and white kits. I love blue.

This also makes it easier for us to get sponsors now that we have a promoter, so I can't wait to see what happens. Its just really exciting stuff, and it hasn't really soaked in yet.

Skills practice is tomorrow, I may try to make that, but Wednesday is when I show up to throw down.

Building Time

I just returned from a trip back home to do race support for Mary's dad, and still managed to get in all of my riding for the weekend. It was a great time and her dad had a really good time, and it was fun to turn the tables and put the attention on him.

I was scheduled to get 3 hours in each day, and had a great ride sat afternoon from my home to Mary's, which is about a 45 minute drive away, and I made great time and made it in 1:40. Sunday I was just doing a greenway ride, over to the race course and around town before the start of the race, and boy was I in for a surprise. About a mile and a half of the greenway was completely torn up and destroyed. Gravel, loose dirt, and hardpack were the flavours of the afternoon. It was the first real rough road test for my new road bike, and it was a champ. Nice and smooth over the nasty stuff and fast over the loose dirt. All that did was make me even more excited for cross season.

I just got my Cat 2 upgrade last night, and it comes with equal parts nervousness and excitement. I feel like I can be a strong regional competitor, but I am pretty nervous to see what happens on a national level. Last year, I fared really well at the USGP's here in Louisville, but it was the Cat 4 race, and there was a lot of regional competition. I've also secured sponsors for this year, and I am getting a lot of help and support. That makes me feel like I have some weight on my shoulders, but a manageable weight.

Though, last week I found the place I need to be in for races. Its a place where I am mentally, and when I am there, I race well. Its not an anger, though I may look angry, its more of a raging hunger to just bury myself and just throw down. I found it during an interval session last week, out on a new road, and it just took over. I spun back to the apartment, feeling really, really good, and knew that I need to be in that place. So, I put out this warning now, when I get a little growlly, and get a lot more focused, I'm not trying to be rude, I am just in my Race Place.

This week is the second week of really building for cross, I have two hard days back to back during the week, and then the accompanying rest days. That way I will be ready for those back to back UCI Weekends. I am hoping for a really good cross practice this Wed, so I can see how I compare to everyone right now.

Alas, time to go to work.