A Tale of Two Races

Saturday had the spring fling crit. Didn't get much time to ride the previous week and a half because i was tied down with school, so i was unsure if i lost any fitness or whatever. The course was expanded this week to include a few more turns which made it much more fun. The corners were really fast and it helped spread out the group. If you can be near the front going into those chicanes you could hit the finish line well ahead of the group.
So we rolled out, motored around for a couple laps and it was time for the sprint lap. I was sitting 4th or 5th when we entered the chicanes, no one was attacking and the pace was slow, waiting for someone to go....so I went. Jumped off the front, hamered through the final 3 or 4 corners, I guess someone was on my wheel because they passed me with about 25 meters to the line, and almost got passed again (I thought the guy beat me for second but the judges gave me 2nd for the sprint), So that was a nice little victory, first time I have scored points in this series. I spent the next 2 laps trying to recover. final laps and i was getting stuck out in the wind, still feeling a bit tired, finished at the back of our front group, but had enough points overall to place me 4th for the race. Fellow colavita/parisi rider steve v. was right behind in 5th place.

So today (sunday) was the joe sheehan road race in leavenworth, ks. 50 miles, out on the road. Was hoping the weather would hold out for low 40's and windy with clouds. About 30 minutes before the start it began to rain. This pretty much was worst case scenario, you're all layered up and if you get wet you're carrying an extra 10 pounds of wet clothes. It was only sprinkling so i stayed with what i was wearing hoping it would pass through. So we rolled out, and as soon as the speeds started picking up, water on the roads was getting sprayed everywhere, my shoes were soaked, leg warmers were soaked, jersey, gloves everything. I continued for maybe 5 miles like that before i decided to pull out. Definetly my lowest point in my short career thus far. Mentally I just wasn't in it, and when you're not motivated like that it's hard to ride 45 more miles at race pace. My body never got a chance to warm up....it sucked. So i turned around and rode back with a 20-25mph tailwind which was nice. Talked to fellow teammate Brad, he pulled out as well and i guess it stared sleeting at one point. It was tough man conditions and I wasn't up for it.