11.03.07 - ann arbor MI cross - 01

11.03.07 - ann arbor MI cross - 01
Originally uploaded by solo_goat

non-UCI weekend for shawn and i as we headed up for one day of the double cross weekend just outside of ann arbor.

legs are coming around and now i can start to feel the twinges of speed come back into my legs - hopes are to be be flying in the next week or so and peak out for ohio state championships and nationals.

course was hilly for the area with lots of twist and turns, two double barriers - one of which that had a monster of a run up which doomed me early on and later in the race.

pace went out hot as usual, on the run up on the first two laps i got popped from the main group that was forming. i chased back hard both times, but it put me in the major hurt zone and i realized i couldn't keep doing this or i would fry myself.

third time i got popped, i decided to race my own race. when i looked around after i got popped from the group, i was in no man's land. in between the main group and everybody else, i was forced to power through the wind and try to make up time in the corners.

it worked - i got up to two other riders with 4 laps to go and enjoyed a brief break from the wind until they made me work.

or should i say, until they worked me over.

on the last lap, i knew it would come down to the last tight corners if we were still together, but i didn't expect an attack from further out on the last run up.

one rider attacked, the other sat there and did nothing.

i said the hell with it, better to try for 5th and get 7th then not try at all.

i put my head down, powered the last mile or so and got right up on the attacking riders wheel right when we hit the last corner. with nothing left, i tried to sprint but still had the other rider with me.

it was the perfect setup to school a rider in a three man group - 7th place on the day.

not the best result, but my power is right where i need it.

today, i'm skipping the local race as i get the yard ready for the winter and the bikes ready for next week's double UCI weekend.

now it's time to obsess about tire selection, wheels and tire pressure.

(note - yesterday's setup: Reynolds Solitude's with Maxxis Raze, running about 30psi in the front, 34 in the rear. this is the same setup i've been running all year so far)

sologoat out