Life Updates

So, just a real quick life update or two.

1) I'm super burned out on the road riding/racing scene. At least around here, that is. Riding in DuPage County, particularly in my neck of the woods, limits me to a VERY small selection of routes that are safe. All of them involve me heading out towards the Fox River, in one way or another. I'm determined to get out to California/Arizona/Some Place Warm this winter to ride up mountains and relieve some of the depression caused by sunlight deficiency.

2) I have a new (my first real one) mountain bike on order. No more just talking about it; it's still probably just a collection of aluminum tubes up in Wisconsin, but it's on the way. Gary Fisher Paragon. 29" of fast rolling awesomeness. And, due to the 29" wheel size, I can strap on my PT harness, throw my PT wheel on, and take it out on the Prairie Path in the dead of winter to get some data (For those that don't know, I'm particularly susceptible to overheating, even in a 40 degree garage with a fan on) and to keep myself sane.

3) I've seen a lot of people from my HS graduating class recently. And oddly, I didn't feel repulsed by the situation. Kind of cool to see people I haven't seen in 5 years. It was nice to talk to people and just shoot the breeze and catch up. Had some laughs, drank some beers, and had a genuinely good time for the first time in a while. Talked to girls, even. Crazy, I know. And, I'd also like to take a moment and congratulate Ryan and Amy Patton on their marriage Friday night; great to see two wonderful people tying the knot and starting a new life together. All the best.

Small Races: Gripes and Observations

Today was the Grayslake Crit. It's a pretty cool, 8-corner, U-shaped course. 

Now, I like doing local races where I know everyone and vice versa, don't get me wrong. However, I don't like predictability in my local races. And, as it turns out, today's race was very much that sort of race.

Attacks from the gun, literally, as they rang the prime bell shortly after the whistle. I made my way to the front, meaning I pedaled twice or thrice, and there I was. I traded pulls with some other dude and chased down the world's Fastest 19 Year Old over the course of a lap and a half, and the race was back together. I lobbed one up the road, got brought back. Various flurries of attacks, Herr Spencer got about 50m up the road.

What follows is probably the saddest thing I've ever witnessed in a bike race. Over the course of the next lap, I dragged the field around while the break dangled, and I do mean it dangled, not 10 seconds up the road. And when I say dragged the field around, I don't mean the Stuart O'Grady/Fabian Cancellara type of dragging the field around; we were going 24mph around the course (guesstimate) and no one came around.

Eventually, some people attacked and I played defense. Just like every race it seems, the group that I really needed to be in, the chase, went right after I put in a pretty serious dig to bring an attack back into the fold. Chad Hartley went up the road, and someone went after him. I latched onto him, but dragged the field up in the process. And then, when I came around and was looking for someone to take my place, i.e. hurting pretty badly, Scott Pearson came around, and I couldn't get back on terms.

So, there were now 5 guys up the road, and I wasn't one of them. Lame. 

We then went on a 45min group ride, in which I was forced to chase everything that breathed. And, the pace dropped, a LOT. Apparently people couldn't figure out that I wasn't obligated to do any work. 

A certain, high successful 3 and recently upgraded 2 couldn't seem to wrap his head around that fact. He'd attack, I'd bridge up or drag the field up, and he'd give me a look that was a combination of anger and confusion. This isn't really directed at him, but at the guys who had their way with the 3s and now find things a bit, oh, different. Welcome to the Pro/1/2's, dude. You aren't going to roll off the front unless you're a level above most of the field, and that's certainly not the case anymore. Everyone is as strong as you, and damn near everyone is smarter at this point. Time to go back to the ol' drawing board.