Heavy Legs

Today I raced over in Ann Arbor and I had high hopes. I trained well this week and ate well this week, the results just aren't coming. The race started fast today and I struggle to stay on the main pack the first few laps. I managed to hang on to the main field and slowly grew into the race, as every break was pulled back in almost immediately. I hung out towards the back of the group and at times made some efforts to move up towards the front. Coming around after the first lap, I found myself in the front doing all the work; wasn't too big a fan of that as it was very windy today. I didn't have the legs to be a major player in the race today, and its hard for me to tell why. I rode well and actually got a flat on Wednesday, I rode well at the TNR on Thursday and took Friday and Saturday off, which may have been a mistake.

Going into the final lap I was actually first wheel and about half way thru the lap I was still first. Someone came around me and I got on his wheel and I remember saying to myself, 'Charlie, you're in a good spot, make something happen'. So now I'm in second coming into the last turn and the uphill sprint to the finish, and I came around the outside of the turn and that was a mistake. Everyone came flying around the inside and I didn't have any legs for the sprint. I was in much to hard of a gear and couldn't really turn the pedals to get any power.

I made it a point during the rides in the week to sprint with a higher cadence and an easier gear, but somehow I completely did not do that today, and that was a big mistake. I would have placed much better if I had been in a better gear. I need to just find a wheel I want to stay on in a sprint situation and just hold that wheel! I believe I finished around 15th, but the results have not been posted yet.

This week I am going to stay off the bike, except for Thursday, and run! I'm running the Kalamazoo half marathon on Sunday; after having not run for a few weeks! I plan on running around 4 miles on Monday and Tuesday, taking Wednesday off, running around 8 on Thursday morning. On Friday maybe 5 or 6 miles, a light jog on Saturday, and race day on Sunday! I don't feel particularly ready.

4/14 Eagle Creek Crit, Indianapolis, IN 12th Cat 4/5 (29)
4/22 Notre Dame Crit, South Bend, IN 12th Cat 4/5 (29)
4/29 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series 22nd Cat 4/5 (40)
6/3 Cobb Park Crit, Kankakee, IL
6/9 BTR Crit, Kalamazoo, MI
6/10 Race for Wishes, Lawton, MI
6/15 Zeeland Crit, Zeeland, MI
7/15 Corktown Crit, Detroit, MI

Things I learned
--------------------
Easier gear for sprints, have to be able to turn the pedals when the legs are heavy
Don't take days off before a hard effort
Find a wheel in the sprint and stay on it!

Again, I'm still looking for a result that I can hang my hat on. I feel it is coming, but with that being said, I'm not super confident in my bike racing, a good finish will change all that I hope!

Looking forward to a week of recharging the bike brain! Half Marathon next Sunday will be super awesome to see all the people come out, and will probably race at the Martin Speedway on Monday May 7. Then I'm leaving for Tennessee on Thursday, stopping first in BG to hang out with Betsy and new friends! I'll leave right after the TNR with my bike and get to Tennessee on Friday to see Sarah Noe and ride in the mountains. For now, I think I'll finish the rest of my homework and then forget about school for a couple months!

Cheers! CE

Is School Done Yet?

Good evening,

I am very tired and I have a lot of homework and I won't have much time to write tonight. I raced at Notre Dame today and I can't help but feel a little disappointment beginning to set in. I think it is important for me to realize this is only my second race this season, and I have a lot more ahead of me. In today's race there were some tight corners and two tight turns at the very beginning. Elliot was at the race as well and we lined up for the race behind everyone, so we never really had a chance to get in the lead group. I'm sure if we would have started more towards the front and were able to get through those first few turns quickly, we could've hung with the front group, it was just not meant to be today.

I finished with the third group on the road, coming in second in the third group, probably around 10th overall, although I haven't seen the results posted yet. I'm not super thrilled with this, and I felt like my level of fitness today merited a better  result. Elliot made a move coming around the second to final turn and it worked very well, as I was not able to get around him in the sprint, so I'm thinking I should make a move early coming towards the finish and I don't think anyone would be able to get around me.


4/14 Eagle Creek Crit, Indianapolis, IN 12th Cat 4/5 (29)
4/22 Notre Dame Crit, South Bend, IN 12th Cat 4/5 (29)
4/29 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series
6/3 Cobb Park Crit, Kankakee, IL
6/9 BTR Crit, Kalamazoo, MI
6/10 Race for Wishes, Lawton, MI
6/15 Zeeland Crit, Zeeland, MI
7/15 Corktown Crit, Detroit, MI

Things I learned
---------------------
Try to start towards the front, give yourself a chance to stay with the main group
Make a move early towards the end and keep the speed high, no one can get around you

This was the beginning of the race, don't let this happen again

This was the last sprint, Elliot made a nice move around the last corner and I was never able to catch him, close though!

Looking forward to next weekend! I'll be leaving Kzoo around 4 Sunday morning and racing at Mooresville, hoping for a good result as that course has a tough climb and may play to my strengths.

*Update (4/26): Couldn't register for Mooresville so going to Ann Arbor on Sunday to race!!

Cheers! CE

Lessons

Weather!

I hate rain and I hate snow and I hate cold and for some reason it is the middle of April and we are getting it all. I was pleasantly surprised to show up in Indy yesterday and it was a touch warmer than Kzoo, about 50 degrees. As the race drew nearer, the temperature kept going up and the rain stopped and the sun came out. A beautiful day for racing. Today I was to head over to Ann Arbor, which I'm not sure I could have raced because I don't have a collegiate license, but also the weather is just terrible. I have a creeping feeling of anxiety as I feel race season is already slipping away from me, but I must remember I'm hoping to be able to get to a lot of the Monday night races, and I still have more races scheduled!

4/14 Eagle Creek Crit, Indianapolis, IN 12th Cat 4/5
4/22 Notre Dame Crit, South Bend, IN
*4/29 Mooresville Crit, Indianapolis, IN
6/3 Cobb Park Crit, Kankakee, IL
6/9 BTR Crit, Kalamazoo, MI
6/15 Zeeland Crit, Zeeland, MI
7/15 Corktown Crit, Detroit, MI

*It's a 4 hour drive and the race is at 10am

As long as I get Mondays off at work or at least out by 5, I'll be doing a lot of the US-131 series races at Martin Speedway! I plan on doing 5 or 6 of those, maybe more, plus the 6 races here are about 12!

Yesterdays race in Indy was interesting. Before the race, I lost a lot of confidence and told myself to just hold on. Do everything I could to stay with the main group and hope for something great to happen. I warmed up well, for about a half hour, and then I stopped at the start/finish line and I was just about the first guy there so I started the race in the front, which was nice. Confidence came back quick as I realized I could stick with these cats, the race started pretty mellow, which was to be expected.

The race quickly moved to being fast and there were a lot of attacks, each move was dragged back to the main field rather quickly. A large team out of Indy was in this race and they were setting the pace well, and keeping the race fast, so no breaks could stay away from the field. As I pedaled near the front of the main field, watching attack after attack fail and come back, I thought no move was going to make it; just stay towards the front and out of trouble and there will be a bunch sprint at the end.

With this in mind, I still chased after a few attacks, I wish I would not have now. I was thinking, maybe just maybe if I guessed right and got in a move, maybe it would stick to the end, none of the moves I jumped on lasted more than half a lap. Thinking nobody was going to breakaway, I happily sat on some wheels in the main pack, biding my time to make a move at the finish.

About a little over half way through the race, 4 or 5 guys did make a move, and it stuck! One of the guys from the big Indy team was in it, so they weren't doing any of the chasing anymore. I stayed put in the main field, thinking this move would eventually come back but it never did. I think the main field, including myself, realized this group wasn't coming back with about 3 laps to go, now it was about being the best of the rest.

On the last lap, and all the previous laps, as soon as the group made the final curve into the finish, the wind just blasted you, it was awful. Coming around that final corner on the last lap, I was sat probably about 6th wheel but I was in the middle; boxed-in. Something I won't let happen again. I couldn't really go all out on the sprint because I had no where to go. I finished in 12th with the main pack, and after having learned some things, I'm very excited for races to come.

Things I learned
--------------------
-Don't chase after small moves, you'll do too much work and the move comes back almost immediately
-In the bunch sprint, get on the outside so you have some room to move up
-Find someone who looks strong and follow his wheel the entire race

Looking forward to racing at ND next weekend, I have some more insight as to how I should race, and I'm hoping for a little better result than yesterday in Indy. Still good yesterday, it was a learning experience and I'm sure I'll learn a lot more!

Cheers! CE

Racing Season Awaits!

As I sit at the coffee shop on Masters' Sunday, I can't help but look ahead to next weekend, as I race in Indianapolis on Saturday and Ann Arbor on Sunday. I've always struggled to live in the moment and take one day at a time, but I suppose anticipation is the spice of life.

I rode outside for the second time this year on the road, and it wasn't particularly cold out. A little nippy, but my mindset is always, "cold is just a state of mind." I've trained pretty hard on the turbo this winter. I started with Bkool but Zwift seems to be the preferred software for training inside. Based on my limited experience with indoor cycling training software, my opinion might not be the best to focus on.

I had a very strict plan before the new year and into January, and stuck to that religiously. I had one bad ride on a long day, and that kind of fell off. I took a couple weeks off and now I'm riding mostly workouts and long rides on the 'Tour of Watopia'. I finished stage 2 at 9pm in 45th out of a little over 450 places, I fought very hard for that top 10%, and that fight breeds confidence for these early season races coming up. This winter is the best preparation I've had for the season ahead, I feel it could have been better however. Isn't is strange how something can always be better? Perhaps that isn't a great mindset to have.

I have 4 or 5 races planned for April, which I have never done before and I am a little apprehensive, as I've never done well in early season races. I rode Melting Mann a couple weekends ago on a tandem with my old boss at Pedal, Tim, and we got second place in the tandem category, a result I'm very proud of! This is the first result I've ever had in a spring race, usually I'm popped off the group almost immediately.

I've had some good rides inside this winter, and today's ride outside wasn't too bad. I didn't feel particularly strong but I also didn't feel bad. I went and did a lap around BTR and that felt nice and fast, I'm very much looking forward to these races coming up!

I'm a firm believer that confidence plays a huge role in cycling, it's all in my head, I have the fitness to stay competitive in a race, my fitness will only improve with time, and the entire season shouldn't be based on these two races.

With my enthusiasm for this weekend, I can't help but feel a massive boulder of anxiety hanging over my head. This is the first year ever that I'm really looking to make a scene in the road races, in races that aren't very local at all. This is the first year I'll be traveling for a race, and I feel like a bad result in either race this weekend will ruin my confidence for the rest of the season; in which my season only last until about the end of June as soccer will start and that will take up my time.

My goal this year is to move up to category 4, as right now I'm category 5 (the category everyone is thrown into when you first start racing). I feel like that will by my first step in becoming the cyclist I want to be. I think having goals is a very productive thing in reaching where I want to be, and the hopes for this season are sky high!

I suppose for now, I'll just keep my anxiousness balled up for a week. Hell of a performance and comeback from Man United this weekend, first time all year the team has shown some fight and heart, too little too late unfortunately; the hopes for next year are sky high as well!

I'm also hopeful my writing will improve when doing this! I know things are all over the place and there really is no organization in this piece. I was at the coffee shop with someone and mentioned how my thoughts in this blog are all over the place and she said, 'you talk like that too, Charlie'. I wonder if that will ever change? It's not a bad or good thing,  it's just a thing.

Cheers! CE