Fun and Sun and Form[?]

It’s funny how you can have so much to say about races immediately afterward, but, if you don’t get it down quickly, they just seem like one big blur a few days later. Well, here’s what I can recall from the blur:

Road Race: Four 20-mile laps in near the Hocking Hills area in Ohio. I have good memories of this place, thanks to past races. This year was a bit different, though. Two things: 1) It was the first race we had in 85-degree weather this season. Despite getting two bottles and a gel per lap, the heat still took its toll. 2) Having gone 26 days off the bike up until Thursday, I was definitely missing something. Still strong enough to go with some moves on the climbs, but I would get in them, have to sit on, and eventually get dropped because I just lost so much fitness. I hope it comes back soon! Meanwhile, I actually tried to participate in a field sprint and didn’t crash anyone out. So that’s good. I was 5th in that for 18th in the race. Pity to miss the breaks, one of which I surely would have made without the rib injury.

Criterium: The wind picked up just an hour or two before our race, and that changed everything. What we thought beforehand would be a fast course with a bunch of eyeing for last-chance double regionals points, turned into a pure sufferfest on this course that seemed to have only 10% tailwind and no shelter anywhere. About 2/3 of the field eventually dropped and what was left were three separate groups. I made it about 30min in, and was disappointed to see on the PowerTap afterward that my average was just 290 normalized for that 30min—a sure sign I need form back. I did a 20km TT at 320 non-normalized in March. Then again, I didn’t do an eighty-mile, eight-climb death march the day before. Still, I wish I would have been up there.

Oh well. It sure was fun. And, even though it was tough, it was nice to be under the hot sun for once. I hope I get that missing fitness back in the next few weeks. It would be nice to race from the front again!

Tags: Hocking Hills, MWCCC Regionals, Ohio State Criterium, Ohio State Road Race