Yes, I know the manimal before Albany thing was a little weird... especially for anyone who didn't watch the show. But now it is after Albany and time for a race recap...
First off... Albany was a blast and not just because I got my legs back. Racing again was like seeing a long lost friend return home after giving them up for dead. The energy of it... seeing old racing buddies... the speed... the intensity... measuring up your competitors by the size of their guts/arses... checking your gear... registering... switching your race number from your left side to your right side between stages knowing that you will never get it as tight as it just was... pain and anger... elation... and finally... adrenaline. I loved every second of the entire weekend. On top of everything else, it seems that my 3 year old daughter loves watching daddy race and ringing the TDG bell I gave her for the race last year. My wife tells me that she rang it as hard as she could each time around and screamed for her daddy every time. It is really cute, she thinks that all the guys on my team are her daddy because she is used to seeing me in the race kits we are wearing now. Each time I would finish a race, she would want me to pick her up and hug her... she would not let go and she never does that... I don't know what she thought or why she did that, but of course I loved it!
The races...
The prologue was great... perfect race for me... plenty of turns and plenty of burn. I felt strong throughout and only wasted time in a couple of turns and a jerk got in my way crossing in front of the roundabout and cost me a few seconds. Other than that, the race was with
out major problem. Of note... my lungs burned after that race worse than I have ever felt. Two hours later they still hurt a little and I had a raspy cough for the rest of the day... it was great... mostly because I had heard Leggit, Sherwin, and Roll talking about the "cyclist cough" that would follow the prologue (of almost identical distance) of the Tour of California a week ago... it made me feel like a pro. Well the results were great... I took 4th in the competitive category and my team had 4 of the top 7 places with the other guys all placed well overall. Our team had a great day...
The crit was along the same course as the TT so we knew the terrain. We planned to work the front of the crit and try to get someone in a breakaway. We were all positioned to gain a major move in the GC if we got someone in a break. Another goal was to get Jake up to the front and set him up for the sprint. The crit was great fun. I worked a lot on the front until Doug got in a three man break and then I tried to stay on the front and be disruptive. Toward the end, I tried to pull the last few laps and keep Jake out of trouble and keep any breaks/attacks down. I put in a good effort, but could not muster the strength to get him around the last lap and died to the back of the pack... or so I thought. I sat up a second and let the first 10-15 guys come by me and all of a sudden there was a gap of 4-5 bikes between me and the group... we had shattered the race to pieces and what I thought to be a pelaton of 50 or so was now only 15... anyway, I could not close the gap and rode in the final half lap by myself. Doug took 2nd and Jake took 6th I think... a lot of our guys were well placed in the top 15-20 so it was a great day...
The RR was a 31 mile flat effort. We had plans to attack all day and make sure we protected Doug at the same time. We attacked all day and protected Doug at the same time. I dont know how else to describe it. There was not a
time during the entire race that we were not pushing the pace or attacking. Every guy on our team dug deep and went all out. We got Jake to the finish line and Jake did his thing and took 1st in the RR... we all rejoiced in his victory. As a funny side note... they had a KOM on the course that I sprinted for and picked up. No one was paying attention and for once, I actually saw a sign... I never see them on group rides and miss the jump, but I saw this one! So... I guess the big boy in the pelaton will be wearing polka dots in the next Ga Cup race! They probably will not give out a jersey, but it is fun to think they will!
Our team is awesome and we are going to have a lot of fun this year!!!!!!!
First off... Albany was a blast and not just because I got my legs back. Racing again was like seeing a long lost friend return home after giving them up for dead. The energy of it... seeing old racing buddies... the speed... the intensity... measuring up your competitors by the size of their guts/arses... checking your gear... registering... switching your race number from your left side to your right side between stages knowing that you will never get it as tight as it just was... pain and anger... elation... and finally... adrenaline. I loved every second of the entire weekend. On top of everything else, it seems that my 3 year old daughter loves watching daddy race and ringing the TDG bell I gave her for the race last year. My wife tells me that she rang it as hard as she could each time around and screamed for her daddy every time. It is really cute, she thinks that all the guys on my team are her daddy because she is used to seeing me in the race kits we are wearing now. Each time I would finish a race, she would want me to pick her up and hug her... she would not let go and she never does that... I don't know what she thought or why she did that, but of course I loved it!
The races...
The prologue was great... perfect race for me... plenty of turns and plenty of burn. I felt strong throughout and only wasted time in a couple of turns and a jerk got in my way crossing in front of the roundabout and cost me a few seconds. Other than that, the race was with
out major problem. Of note... my lungs burned after that race worse than I have ever felt. Two hours later they still hurt a little and I had a raspy cough for the rest of the day... it was great... mostly because I had heard Leggit, Sherwin, and Roll talking about the "cyclist cough" that would follow the prologue (of almost identical distance) of the Tour of California a week ago... it made me feel like a pro. Well the results were great... I took 4th in the competitive category and my team had 4 of the top 7 places with the other guys all placed well overall. Our team had a great day...The crit was along the same course as the TT so we knew the terrain. We planned to work the front of the crit and try to get someone in a breakaway. We were all positioned to gain a major move in the GC if we got someone in a break. Another goal was to get Jake up to the front and set him up for the sprint. The crit was great fun. I worked a lot on the front until Doug got in a three man break and then I tried to stay on the front and be disruptive. Toward the end, I tried to pull the last few laps and keep Jake out of trouble and keep any breaks/attacks down. I put in a good effort, but could not muster the strength to get him around the last lap and died to the back of the pack... or so I thought. I sat up a second and let the first 10-15 guys come by me and all of a sudden there was a gap of 4-5 bikes between me and the group... we had shattered the race to pieces and what I thought to be a pelaton of 50 or so was now only 15... anyway, I could not close the gap and rode in the final half lap by myself. Doug took 2nd and Jake took 6th I think... a lot of our guys were well placed in the top 15-20 so it was a great day...
The RR was a 31 mile flat effort. We had plans to attack all day and make sure we protected Doug at the same time. We attacked all day and protected Doug at the same time. I dont know how else to describe it. There was not a
time during the entire race that we were not pushing the pace or attacking. Every guy on our team dug deep and went all out. We got Jake to the finish line and Jake did his thing and took 1st in the RR... we all rejoiced in his victory. As a funny side note... they had a KOM on the course that I sprinted for and picked up. No one was paying attention and for once, I actually saw a sign... I never see them on group rides and miss the jump, but I saw this one! So... I guess the big boy in the pelaton will be wearing polka dots in the next Ga Cup race! They probably will not give out a jersey, but it is fun to think they will!Our team is awesome and we are going to have a lot of fun this year!!!!!!!
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