Let The Racing Begin

Its been a while since I've seen that good ol' heart rate monitor show a 197 on the screen. I guess thats what happens when skinny kids in kits that read Trek Livestrong take the front on a 1500 foot climb. The 2013 race season kicked off with a back to back road race followed by crit. The road race, a 90 mile course with 6300 feet of climbing, was a quick reminder that bike racing usually involves some leg pains. The third hour was a mixture of continuous charlie horse punches to the thigh with a mix of organic energy gels being thrown back faster than a a homeless person at an all you can eat buffet to try and give my body CPR. Actually, it felt a little like this:

The starting pack of 125 was slowly chipped down to 40 riders at the base of the last climb and i managed to stay alive and finish somewhere in the low 30's. Nothing to write home about but still pretty happy for early February.

Course Profile: 4 Laps

A few big names showed up to contest the crit and the pace was nice and high from the start. I managed to get into a small early move and snuck a prime but nothing came from it. After an hour fifteen of racing and with my heart rate at an average of 175, i dropped back to about 30th spot and thats where i finished.

By the end of this rest week, i hope to be able to do something relatively close to this:

Or you know... stand up on the board.

I've started riding the track in preparation for my Track camp coming up in LA in a few weeks time. Fingers crossed i do better than the lakers team on the road. Till next time.