Still Can't Get It All Together

This weekend's courses rocked, and the weather was awesome.

So I'm still not able to put it all together yet and come away with a top 5 at a N.E. Verge race. I really want to be consistently placing a couple of spots higher. Although I'm making improvements every weekend and learning and getting smoother, I still have yet to put it all together successfully.

Saturday I bombed the start. The twisty section of the road and the descent into the left-hand 180 into the dirt... it just wasn't my day. With my luck, my own teammate endo'ed right in front of me on that turn, and I had to come to a complete stop and unclip to get around her. (It was a helluva endo, too!!! Full-on over the bars and laying out on the dirt!) Well, I managed to fight my way back for 8th place, but that wasn't exactly the result I was hoping for. I rode the dirt "run-up" by the tennis courts and damn I love that sand pit!!! Straight and fast. I was kinda bummed I didn't finish better.

Sunday was also wikkid lots of fun. My boy did his FIRST cross race, still healing collarbone and all! He finished 12th! Here he is showin some style.

On my end of things...
I ended up 7th. 5th was SO in my sights.
BUT...

Let's see...
Things I screwed up:
Although I could ride it reliably during warm-up, I decided to run the sand every lap in the race. That was fine, and probably faster than riding it, but the problem was coming out of the sand pit I was always overgeared because I had been hauling on the straightaway coming into it. {dope slap}
The slippery turn in the woods at the start. After getting a good jump up the road, I took the turn too wide and lost time. {dope slap}
After the steep, muddy run-up with slippery footing, I always had trouble clipping back in, and although I tried riding unclipped for awhile, I wanted to be clipped in for the upcoming rooty turns, and I inevitably lost time. {dope slap}
I went too damn slow through the rooty turns then around the gazebo and so I went into the drop-off descent too slow and lost time. {dope slap}
I didn't recover properly after Saturday's race. {dope slap}
When I was in the group of 4 riders, I rode in last spot, allowing little gaps to open and using my matches to close those gaps. {dope slap}
I was too careful [code for f'in SLOW] in the first gravely turns around the pine trees after the start. {dope slap}

Things I did right:
Good jump at the start.
Smooth dismounts into the run-ups.
Good running in the sand pit.
Good barriers/remounts.
Good power on flats.

I'm getting a bit anxious now, cuz I've only got a few weekends left to try and put it all together for this season....
I guess all this is practice for next year anyways.

Well, I am relaxing tonight, and I just got sushi delivered! Oh yummy yummy in my tummy!!!

I'm actually making the trip to California this weekend, and I'm all pumped for it. It will be crazy hard to get a top 10 result (money and UCI points only go 10 deep) but I hope to be up for the challenge. I'll have a great starting position cuz the UCI recalculated points, and I'm still doing pretty well.

Perspective

What a weekend. This weekend's weather was hot and sunny down in Harrisburg, PA, drawing an amazing contrast to the wintry weather in Gloucester last weekend.

Unfortunately, I have no pictures to share, as I forgot to put the memory card back in my camera for the weekend, but there are great shots of the races on mountainbikeracer.com.

Saturday's race under sunny 75-degree skies felt a little too warm for cyclocross. I wasn't particularly fond of the gravel start (not fine gravel, but little rocks) but managed to get a good jump up the road and onto the grass in 5th place. I slipped back from there. Christine V. went down in front of me in the first lap, allowing me to make a few seconds on her. We ended up trying to work together to catch the lead group until she dropped out for some reason. I was left alone, feeling really flat. I had no spunk in my legs, and my HR was pegged much higher than normal. I think I made a big mistake in eating a double caffinated GU 10 minutes before such a hot race. I definitely won't do that again. I slipped back one more spot and finished 6th. I am having trouble mentally pushing though when I feel like I'm cracking. I just say in my head, "Damn! It feels like I'm popping!" and perhaps it's even a self-fulfilling prophecy. I begin to drag and lose lots of time. I have to learn how to push through it - my HR graphs look like I don't actually crack. There's usually no distinct decline in HR. I guess it's in my head.

Sunday I wanted to be mentally stronger. The course was flat and there were few technical sections, only a muddy section and one run-up. I knew getting to the top of the first hill first would be so important. I have gotten sick of blowing starts and resolved to change that. So I actually got he hole shot on this one. Someone told me after the race that I even had a little gap on the field at the top of the first hill. After that came the barriers. I was still out front. We snaked around a baseball diamond, and I decided to let someone pass me. It ended up being two people, though, Barb and C.V. I stayed in the front group of 5 - we had a gap on the rest - staying out of the wind. Then I made my biggest mistake of the race. I guess I had a little adrenaline going, rendering my brain defunct. They slowed up a little, and I got worried that we would get caught. I wanted to keep the pressure on... I attacked on the back straightaway by the water... in the wind. Dumb move. Duh! Everyone sat on my wheel in the strong wind, and then on the muddy run-up section, put the hurt on me and opened up a small gap. This couple second gap grew since I went out so hard. Their wheels slipped away as they were drafting together on the long windy flat sections. Well, live and learn. I know that I can ride with these girls, it's just that I haven't put it all together yet. I'm happy with 5th place, but definitely not satisfied. I'll just keep learning every race and try not to repeat make the same mistakes.

Other than that, I rode cleanly and smooth. I had a really smooth dismounts in the run-up section when I was able to grab the downtube, thrust the bike onto my shoulder, and step forward in one swoop. Unfortunately, for some reason, my running was really slow. I'm getting there... improvements every weekend. I don't feel so run-down and exhausted as I did the past 2 or 3 weeks, either. I'm ready to go!! More more! More cyclocross!! =D

Oh! The perspective part...

I finished 29th at the Highland Pk race last year... TEN AND A HALF MINUTES BACK and almost DFL!!! I could beat myself up about making some dumb mistakes on Sunday, but when I compare my performance to last year, I have to be happy.
Happy, but not satisfied...

Aches and Pains

Hmm... maybe I shouldn't have run so hard Tuesday...
I was really feeling it during last night's cross practice...
But the worst part yesterday was that I hurt myself IN THE SHOWER.
How you ask?? I have no idea. Really.
Just went to stretch my left quad muscle while standing, and something snapped in my back. Ouch. I am really sore. Musta pulled/strained something. (I'm too young for this!!)
At least I have luck on my side - I had a massage already scheduled for this afternoon!

Oh!! And my new wheels came in! New Ksyriums with Tufo tires... thought I'd try a different tire than the Grifo Challenge I usually use (and like). Just want to compare them to something, and I know the Tufos are popular. Can't wait to race them down in PA/NJ this weekend.

And good news, Rock Star's making a comeback...
He's got a job now, he's healing, and his pad is getting cleaned up. Yay!

Gnarly

I love this photo!!