Vanderkittens Cause for Paws Crit

Yesterday my teammate Josh and I went out to the Cause for Paws crit. There was no Cat 3 field so we raced the Cat 123 field. It was a hot one so I was trying to keep hydrated as much as possible. We lined up and were ready to go. We were racing for 60 mins. The race started pretty steady with attacks starting from the gun. Josh went with one with a Fat Frogs guy. They stayed out for a couple laps before they were brought back in. I went with a couple attacks but nothing really stuck. I did bridge a couple gaps and chase down a couple breakaways. Josh went for a prime and won it. He was riding very strong. Then with about 5 laps to go teams were starting to get organized to set up there sprinters. I was riding in great position. I had a few guys that I was watching. The last lap guys were ramping it up some I was still in great position. I held on the wheel in front of me and sprinted around for a 5th place finish. I was sprinting but not like I should have since I thought there was still a couple riders away. But I'm very pleased with my result in the Cat 123.

Wintergreen Ascent

The family and I went up to Wintergreen Ascent Hill Climb this year. We drove up on Friday, scoped out the course and went to Afton Mountain Winery. Saturday morning we drove up to the top of the mountain. The warm up went well, go some good intervals in. The next thing I know it is time to head down to the bottom via the shuttle. Made it to the bottom of the mountain at the start line. Rolled around keeping the legs loose. Got to the start line with about 5mins before I was to go off. Started the race feeling good. Not trying to go to hard but keep the power right below my threshold. I was feeling good but knew that this was the easiest part of the race.(first 3miles) Then the turn into Wintergreen. Right at the guard shack it was pretty nasty and then the heart rate was up and never came back down. Then the legs were still feeling pretty good. But they just did not want to turn over the pedals. Then the last turn up on to Devils Knob. How sick of a climb that last mile was 15% grade. Over all I finished the race. I was hoping to be in the 40's but ended up with a 50:47 for the 6.75 miles and average of 9%grade. I was happy to be at the finish. Next year I will be in the 40's!

Rest Week

After 7 weeks of some good threshold training here is a well deserved rest week. I was off the bike all weekend due to a work related class out of town all weekend. Today was spent working around the house and hitting an easy ride late this afternoon. Legs and lungs felt pretty good today. Hoping to have some good strong legs this coming up Saturday for the Wintergreen Ascent. I'm shooting for the lower 40's.

Thursday I will be heading up to Yorktown to get in a ride with Todd Helmick and Dan Gibson. Hope to get some pictures while we are out.

2010

Well this year was off to a slow start due to a broken hand. I crashed at Bryan Park CX race last Oct. Did not know it was broke. I started a 7 day hike from Front Royal to Waynesboro. That was when we got blown off the trail due to the nor' easter, mad rain and cold temps was not fun. So in the day before Thanksgiving I had surgery(3pins put in my left hand). So it was not a productive winter on the bike.

The first two Snowball Crits went OK. I tested my legs and lungs and had no success with it. The second crit I attacked and could not get back on. Went to Greenville,NC for a crit and was destroyed again. Smithfield Hammer Fest was the same way but I was gaped and could not close the gap with 3 bike lengths. After the previous crits I was like wow is this how my season is going to go. Had a pretty good Langley Crit. We did not win but the team rode really aggressive and strong, just not strong enough.

So I figured that I really need to improve my threshold. So for the past 7 weeks that is what I have been doing. Hopefully it will kick start the engine and keep me going for the rest of the season.

I did have my personal best at the Conquer Canal TT earlier this month. My time was 29:47 was was a min faster then last year. I had pretty good numbers my average power was 276. Not bad since I am only weighing in at 157lbs. I just need to work on my aero position and hopefully move up in the results.