Dirty Thirty

ALL EYES ON BARRY! ALL EYES ON BARRY!

It is important to remember, the races I've been doing are just practice for Barry in April. There aren't a lot of gravel roads I know of around Kzoo, so these races are what I have to practice on. I'm looking for a big result in the biggest gravel road race in the country up in Hastings. WE will see how everything goes, but these races won't define the year; at all.

Ugh. Yesterdays race in Saranac (?) was by the far the most muddy and most wet race I've done yet. This clearly did not play to my advantage. Not only was I super caught off by the climbs in the first mile in the race, but the ground was very loose and I don't think there is too much I can take from today. I have a fleeting suspicion that I don't have any brake pads left and my brakes are metal on metal, but I'll confirm that tomorrow.

*If you haven't noticed, my favorite face to make when I'm trying to jump on groups ahead of me is that of desperation

I don't really understand how it is happening, and no offence to anyone, but these 50+ year-old men are coming around me and just riding me right off their wheels. I can't really tell what I'm doing wrong or what I'm not doing right, but I certainly need to be a little more efficient with just about everything. I've been able to just about stay on top of homework, but it's been tight. I don't know how other people are so good at time management, tips would be appreciated. I always find myself wasting a lot of time either playing solitaire on my phone, watching Netflix, or writing blogs, and I need to be more intentional with my time.

I really think I need to add some sort of stretching routine to my day. For being a 22 year old young man, I'm very inflexible. I often come off the bike pretty sore in places you wouldn't expect - back, thighs, neck, things like that. It's annoying and it slows me down, I think I learn how to stretch and maybe do some yoga.

3/16 Waterloo G&G, Grass Lake, MI (Gravel) 34th Overall (221) / 4th AG (6)
3/23 Melting Mann, Vandalia, MI (Gravel) 61st Overall (255) / 17th AG (31)
3/30 Dirty 30 Gravel Grinder, Saranac, MI (Gravel) 81st Overall (215) / 9th AG (24)
4/6 Lowell Classic, Lowell, MI (Gravel)
4/7 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series, Ann Arbor, MI
4/13 Barry Roubaix, Hastings, MI (Gravel)
4/14 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series, Ann Arbor, MI
4/20 Marian Cycling Classic, Indianapolis, IN
4/27 Yankee Springs TT, Gun Lake, MI (Mountain !!)
4/28 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series, Ann Arbor, MI
5/5 Fort Custer Stampede, Battle Creek, MI (Mountain)
5/11 Hammond Region Riot, Hammond, IN
5/25 Twilight on the Square, Akron, OH
5/26 Newark Center Classic, Englewood, OH
6/1 Deaconess River City Bicycle Classic, Evansville, IN
6/9 Dirty Donut, Martin, MI (Gravel)
6/16 Vuelta a Porta Sheldon, Grand Haven, MI (?)
6/22 Athens Brick Criterium, Athens, OH
6/29 Port City Crit, Muskegon, MI
6/30 Great Lakes Classic Road Race, Marne, MI
7/13 Detroit Cycling Championship, Detroit, MI
7/14 Corktown Crit, Detroit, MI
7/28 The Divide (Gravel) / Muncie Grand Prix, Muncie, IN
8/10 Rose City Crit, Jackson, MI
8/18 Gaslight Crit, Grand Rapids, MI
8/25 Debaets-Devos Crit, Detroit, MI
9/8 Uncle John's Dirty Ride, St. John's, MI (Gravel)
11/2 Iceman, Traverse City, MI

Ah, so not a fantastic result. Not as bad as I thought it would be, but again not great. We must all remember, it is still early, this is my first year taking my cycling more seriously, and the results will come. I'm really looking for that top-10 finish in one of these gravel races. I know the results don't really point towards that, but it is a lot closer than it may seem. I know the bike fits well, I've had good races before. I'm a little suspicious of my fitness, but I know what I need to focus on, which is important.

I'm super excited to race on the pavement next weekend. My road bike is dialed, and I feel very quick on the road. My plan is one of attack. I want to stay towards the front and get back any attack that goes off the front. If anyone is strong enough, it'd be great to make a move and hold until the end.

It is the final two weeks of tax season and we are all super excited about that. I've got a solid grasp on all my classes I think. I'm not sure the 4.0 is going to make it through this semester, but that is OK. I'm hoping today is the last of the real cold weather, and we will have a big week of riding. I refuse to take Thursday and Friday off before a race; that is too much time not doing anything, and I think that hurt my race this weekend. We'll get them next weekend with some nicer weather, I'm expecting a couple podium pictures.

Cheers! CE