I'm heading up to Whistler today for some riding. Yeah, no racing. Just riding. Should be good times indeed.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Mt Snow
The U.S National Championships went down this past weekend at Mt. Snow Vermont. I started off my Journey at 8am at Lindbergh field in beautiful sunny San Diego, about 9 hours later I was standing outside of Albany international in 90% humidity and 90* Fahrenheit wondering: "what the hell was I thinking?"
Mt. Snow is different. The mountain itself is unique, the terrain tends to be open, mossy, slippery and rocky. This year they changed up the course a bit and unfortunately added many pedaling sections which made the course stupid flat in sections and gave the peddler an advantage. Practice was going great Thursday and Friday, although I was getting flats at a steady pace I was digging the high-speed rough course (when not pedaling). Friday night the skies opened up and we got some rain. Saturday morning practice was good, surprisingly dry and tacky well, not really in the woods but it was ok. Saturday practice ended and I felt good, although I was unfortunately feeling a bit under the weather. As the day wen
t on I could feel myself getting sick, this was not good. Sunday morning came along and I definitely was feeling under the weather, I tried to ignore it and focus on my riding but it was next to impossible. My body felt week and I was having a bit of trouble breathing and alot of trouble pedaling. I seeded mid-pack with a very conservative run, most of the guys played the rain card as heavy rain was forecasted for the afternoon. Race time came around and I found myself in the gate. I hit all my lines with good speed in the top section and found my way to the first pedaling section. Not bad I held my speed through the open sweeping turns pretty well. I hit the middle pedaling section and had no juice. The next couple of pedal sections I had absolutely no gas. I got to the lower tree section and caught up to the guy in front of me. I thought I could pass him but I had no power left and my concentration was less than good, the result was me missing some lines and slowing down...geez. I got to the bottom and unclipped and looked horrible for the finish. Result=mid-pack performance, not what I was looking for in this race. Overall I was pretty disappointed in this trip out to the East coast, I was looking for a top 10 finish as I thought I was in good physical shape. But my lack of health I think hindered me in achieving this. Bummed. Thanks To Eric once again for his support and thanks to JAK the Cannondale factory mechanic for being an Italian.
t on I could feel myself getting sick, this was not good. Sunday morning came along and I definitely was feeling under the weather, I tried to ignore it and focus on my riding but it was next to impossible. My body felt week and I was having a bit of trouble breathing and alot of trouble pedaling. I seeded mid-pack with a very conservative run, most of the guys played the rain card as heavy rain was forecasted for the afternoon. Race time came around and I found myself in the gate. I hit all my lines with good speed in the top section and found my way to the first pedaling section. Not bad I held my speed through the open sweeping turns pretty well. I hit the middle pedaling section and had no juice. The next couple of pedal sections I had absolutely no gas. I got to the lower tree section and caught up to the guy in front of me. I thought I could pass him but I had no power left and my concentration was less than good, the result was me missing some lines and slowing down...geez. I got to the bottom and unclipped and looked horrible for the finish. Result=mid-pack performance, not what I was looking for in this race. Overall I was pretty disappointed in this trip out to the East coast, I was looking for a top 10 finish as I thought I was in good physical shape. But my lack of health I think hindered me in achieving this. Bummed. Thanks To Eric once again for his support and thanks to JAK the Cannondale factory mechanic for being an Italian.Cool video from the race, I'm in the intro pinning it! haha
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Downtime
Pretty quiet right now. I have been riding a bit more throwing in a couple of XC rides during the week and riding my Judge whenever possible. Right now I am in preparation for the US National Championships that will go down in approximately 2 weeks at Mount Snow Vermont. My goal is to finish top 10 but of course I would like to think that I can get a top 5.
I am keeping my fingers crossed that the weather stays dry!!
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