Iowa Racing

Rolled out of KC at 6:30 am saturday to meet up with the rest of the team in burlington, IA. Saturday was the Snake Alley Criterium. A race in downtown Burlington with the highlight being a steep climb up a cobble stone, switch-backing, narrow road. the rest of the course was high speed descent on open city streets before you went back up snake alley again. this race has the reputation of being one of the most physically demanding courses there is...bastards were right. I was at the back of a 60 man field because I was one of the last to register for the race. No problem i thought, I can climb decently, I'll just start passing people on the way up and slowly make my way to the front. The only thing wrong with that is that unless you're one of the first 15 people to hit the alley, you're screwed. The whole thing is just a big bottle neck and you waste exponentially more energy trying to navigate the climb with people slowing down in front of you than if you could just climb it by yourself. basically the first three laps I got caught in traffic, was forced to a snail's pace and stuck trying to turn the pedals in too tall of a gear with no momentum. that and I just went out too fast and hard. From Britton yelling at me I was sitting somewhere around 20th position in those first few laps. I was at the redline the entire time, and was fading fast. Teammate Dan O. passed me about lap 3 or 4, I tried to recover a bit on the downhills but it was a lost battle already. Everytime I went up it just got worse. I was operating beyond my capacity and was done. The leaders lapped me around lap 6 or 7 of the 12 lap race. Dan lapped me not long after the leaders. I knew I was done for and surprised the officials hadn't pulled me yet. Made one more climb up the alley for good time's sake and rode down straight to my car. that was the absolute worst I've ever felt on a bike. I couldn't walk straight or think straight for that matter. I just dunked a towel in my cooler water and put it over my head. It took a good 5 minutes of sitting there before I was coherent. At the time you are thinking "this sucks so much, I will never do this race again!" but I wouldn't mind another shot at Snake Alley in the future.
Dan O. on the other hand was loving it. I think he finished 11th?? Regardless he did well and finished in the money. Steve and Joe had similar experiences to mine.
The night earlier was the 33 mile road race in burlington that I had to miss. It was a cat 3/4 combined race, and in his first cat 3 appearance, Matt P. pulled out the win.
Read newspaper article here (photo is in upper right)

Sunday we had the Melon City crit in Muscatine, IA. about 45 miles north of burlington. Previewed the course and was pretty pumped at the layout. Flat rollout with one turn prior to a long sweeping descent, speedbump that lauches you into the air before you have an equally long fast uphill climb. A few tight corners and level ground to the finish. This race was going to be FAST.
Warming up I knew I could have a good day. The legs felt the best they've felt in a long time. A tad bit fatigued from the day before, but good nonetheless. Rolled out and quickly reached about 45mph on the descent. Hit the climb and began to feel the course out. The first couple laps we were averaging just under 30 mph as we came through the start finish line. Did well to keep good position and maintain in the upper part of the group. I was doing alright, but it was just a fast tough race. Definetly operating at my aeorbic threshold the entire time. Over-reved the engine during one lap when I found myself on the front in the wind. Quickly tucked back in and it took another lap to recover.
The race was only paying out 10 deep and that was my goal, get paid. My only shot (often my only shot in most my races) was to keep it together for the final hill and attack over the top of the climb and sprint out to the finish. Last lap and speeds were picking up. I was working beyond my capacity and at the top of the climb was failing. Stuck it out to the end and finished 14th overall. I was pretty happy with that race. I did everything I could have done and just didn't have any matches left at the end of the last climb. Considering the speeds and the competition it was a great experience. I'm still going to keep working and I know I've got fitness to be gained yet. I will podium in the 4's this season.