Memorial Day Weekend

Good evening, I just got home after leaving this morning before 7am and I have never been this tired. A very hectic weekend filled with a lot of good memories I'll keep forever. A few grad parties and Hannah and Tyler's wedding on Sunday night, as well as a bike race Monday, another grad party, and a cookout to wrap up the weekend. I'm just now sitting on the couch upstairs, ready to start another week, full of promise of new opportunities.

I raced this morning in Waterford, about 2.5 hours from Kalamazoo, and it was absolutely scorching outside. We raced on a car race track which was very fun and cool, but the black-top pavement brought the temperature up at least another 15 degrees, so I wouldn't be surprised if while we were racing it was well above 100 degrees.

I think a flaw in my preparation is my lack of confidence. I feel like that may be the one thing I am missing before I hit a good turn of results, I'm hoping I can get over that soon so I can see some nice finishes in the next couple of weeks. I feel like I set myself up to defend, I tell myself that I am just going to hang on to the main group and not get dropped, and I think this is hurting my results. I have the fitness to hang with most of these guys, and I need to realize that it is alright to be hurting. I need to come with more confidence to these races, maybe push the pace a little bit, chase some attacks, see what happens; rather than just sitting back and letting the race come to me, I think I need to go out and grab the race by the throat.

I think I'm scared of doing work out front, so I generally have been sitting in and that is never a good plan for me and it is taking me until now to realize that. On every single Thursday Night Ride I do a good deal of the pace making and those always go very well for me. I think good preparation is key to doing well at these races. Last night, the night before racing on the east side of the state at 11am, I went to a wedding, and I wasn't completely sure until we got there, but they served free beer and wine and I took full advantage of that. To go nicely with the beer and wine, I also danced my little heart away to all of my favorite songs, I saw a lot of old friends, I think I may have fallen in love (don't bet too much money on this), and I had a wonderful time. I rode home with my parents and slept at their house until about 3am this morning, drove back to my place, and left about 6:45 for the race. I didn't get hardly any sleep between 3-6:30 either, I'm going to blame this on the race not going quite as good as I expected. Overall, a very fun time and I'm looking forward to the rest of the weddings this summer.

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 Ann Arbor, MI 22nd Cat 4/5 (40)
5/6 Kalamazoo Half Marathon Kalamazoo, MI 13th (27) AG (M 19-24) / 249th (1392) Overall
5/7 131 Racing Series, Martin, MI 1st "B race" (9)
5/12 Tiger Lane Crit, Memphis, TN DNF Cat 3/4
5/20 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series Ann Arbor, MI 6th Cat 4/5 (25)
5/28 Waterford Hills Circuit Race, Clarkston, MI 13th Cat 4/5 (38)
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

The race this morning was very good considering the poor preparation and the intense heat. A break of about 6 or 7 or 8 guys got away towards the beginning of the race and the second group on the road which I was in was never able to pull them back. This is where I think I need to be braver and more aggressive and more confident. When I go to these races that I've never been at before and I'm not sure whether a break will stick or not, I think I need to start chasing these guys down and try to get in a move myself. I hung on to the second group on the road pretty well, there were a couple times where I felt like I couldn't really breathe, my heart rate was above 200bpm, but I quickly got myself back together and relaxed and caught a wheel. I really didn't have too much trouble hanging on to this group; like I said, I think I need to start challenging myself a bit more, try to hang on to a break. I finished 13th today, out of near 40 I believe, which I'm pleased with considering the circumstances. I was second wheel of my group coming around the final turn into the finish and I thought my sprint was better today. I really took my own line and think I may have moved up a couple positions. I do think I still need to finish through the sprint a bit better. That last pedal stroke or two I actually completely stopped pedaling and just threw my bike, I don't think this is a good tactic.

 Result sheet from the race on Monday! 13th/ 38!

 Congrats Hannah and Tyler! You two are perfect and your wedding was perfect and I'm so happy for you!

How could I forget!?!?! My roommate Madi and I watched Janae, Jack, and James Misner and we had an absolute blast with the kids. Mr. Misner and his wife Julie have raised the most adorable, well-behaved children! Looking forward to spending more time with them.

Ending the weekend on a positive note and the next couple weeks on a positive feeling! Ankle feels great, body is healing up well, feel like I have a good grasp on things, had some very good talks with people who are very important to me this weekend, all is well! Time for some results!

Cheers! CE