Kicked in the Teeth Again

      Before I talk about the horrible race last night, I'll share a few pictures from the week. Our friend Pat has been having a lot of problems with her car lately. She drives a Mini Cooper, which fits her perfectly. It's a small go-cart on steroids and well, she's small and full of energy too. The car has given her fits the past few weeks, with everything including the brakes, clutch, tires, battery and alternator going bad on her. And that's just the things I know about.

     Shannon and I went over to her house this week to help with the dead battery. I tried to jump her with my car, but it wouldn't start. We pushed the car up her driveway and were going to get it rolling and dump the clutch to try to start it. Just as they were about to push me off the hill I tried to start it one more time and miraculously the car turned over! We followed Pat to an auto parts store where they replaced the battery for her. She was happy as could be, but then found out the alternator was bad. I felt bad for her. She has spent so much money on that car lately. She is just death to cars. Her other car, a CRV, also died recently with engine failure. And she borrowed a friend's truck while her Mini was in the shop for the clutch. The first time she drove it, the battery died. Shortly after she returned the truck, her friend broke a front axle in his driveway. Yeah, she's not driving my car. Ever!

Pat's dog, Shiner, hopped in my car while we tried to jump start the Mini. She was ready to go for a ride!

     Our plants at home are finally doing well. The stump out front has gone through various stages of growth and death. We started off with a full bushel of orange flowers, then they died and purple ones grew up. Then the purple died and the orange returned. It's so strange. The big stump in the backyard is sporting a 'fro of morning glories. The vines have now made their way all the way to the top and are growing a few more inches everyday. It's been just a green, leafy blob until this week when the flowers started to form again. I don't think we've seen any flowers in several weeks. Now there are at least 30 blooming every morning.

Front yard stump

Our tomatoes and peppers plants have been producing some tasty veggies

Back yard stump of morning glories

We have three colors blooming now: purple, pink and white. The white ones can be all white, or have blue, pink or purple stripes inside like this one.

     My rides at the end of the week went well. Shannon and I got in some late afternoon rides to keep the legs loose. I love the way I feel when I'm in good shape. The slow active recovery rides really help the legs and you feel stronger at the next hard workout. We saw some cool sunsets this week as the atmosphere was being disrupted by Hurricane Isaac down to our south. It seemed to be pulling all our clouds in towards it. Every cloud in the sky had a tail that was trailing to the south. We could also see the curved outer edge of the storm as it extended over Tennessee. Seeing the edge of it way up here in Tennessee while it thrashes the edge of Mississippi and Louisiana really puts into perspective how big the storm is.

Clouds being pulled south as Hurricane Isaac moves toward land

     Our drive to St. Louis looked like it might be miserable, but the remnants of Isaac stayed west. We had little rain to deal with until we got to our hotel. It even looked like we may be able to get in the first race of the Gateway Cup, the Tour de Lafayette, without getting wet. But then it rained. And it rained a lot. We couldn't even see to drive. It was scary for a few minutes as we made our way from the hotel over to the race. We couldn't find a close parking spot, but we did manage to find one near a building with an overhang. It was perfect for me to change and warm-up under.

Eating on the road

The skies were looking a bit unfriendly as we approached St. Louis

     We got soaked as soon as we got out of the car. We were so well prepared that we only brought one rain jacket for two people. We watched a few laps of the Cat. 4 and Cat. 3 races before heading back to the car to get ready. I had never ridden my Maxxis Cormet tires in the rain, so I made some pressure adjustments and took them out for a few practice turns through the streets around the venue. I was comfortable on them so next it was time to hit the trainer. We rode again this morning to loosen the legs up before the drive. I think that helps me later in the day. I don't need as long of a warm-up on the trainer to be ready to go. I had GREAT legs in warm-up. I hit the highest heart rate I have ever seen on the trainer, 187.

    I was pumped for the race. I wasn't excited to get out and race in a downpour, but I can't say that I mind it either. I actually like the adverse conditions. I usually do better when the weather is bad. The course here is a good one for a rainy day. It's wide and flat. There are just 4 corners, all wide lefts and all 90-degrees. I like this place too. I raced well here last year, getting in a break at one point and finishing in the main group. It was my first ever finish in the group in a big Pro/1/2 race.

Tour de Lafayette race course

     We started later than scheduled, not getting underway until 9:30pm. I got a great starting spot, taking off from the second row of 91 riders. I was fortunate to get that because I had an emergency run to the port-o-john right before we lined up. Maybe pizza on the drive up was not such a good idea!

     The start was fast. We really weren't backing off much in the corners despite the soaked roads. I was comfortable the first two laps, staying in the top 15. Then I started to slide back some. The pace through the corners was fine, but we were accelerating hard down the straightaways. I hit some ripples in the pavement in a few corners and got into a rough stretch of potholes on the backside of the course that aided in my falling back. My backslide was slow at first, then became faster. The pace was picking up and I felt like I couldn't get a draft. Gaps were already forming and I got hung out in some of the gaps as I fell back.

Pro/1/2 Men rolling through Turn 1

   
     I went from sitting good at the front, to hanging on the back by the fifth lap. My legs felt great. My heart rate was high, but I was comfortable. I was sprinting off the corners well, despite a little sliding around on my back tire. I just couldn't seem to hit the top speed of everyone else. I gave it everything I had, but came off the back after we went down the front stretch at 33 mph and followed that up with sprints out of the next 4 corners. I got pinched into the curb in turn 3 and that was it for me. I couldn't accelerate fast enough to close the gap. I was far from the first rider off the back, but I was off after just 10 minutes of racing and that was failure today. We had a 28.3 mph average speed when I popped off. I kept the hammer down and rode hard until they pulled me after 17 minutes of racing. I was so disappointed. I felt so good and felt so ready for this weekend. I can't even explain what happened. I never even felt like I was hurting that bad, but I couldn't hold the wheel in front of me. I was totally destroyed to be watching yet another finish from the wrong side of the barriers. My stats for the race were 25.1 mph average speed , max heart rate of 189 and average heart rate of 181.

More Turn 1 action

The few riders left in the main group roll through turn 4 with 5 laps to go

My heart rate data for the short race

     Local favorite Brad Huff won in a bunch sprint finish in the pouring rain. I managed to film a little during the last 10 laps after I had changed clothes. Laura Van Gilder won the women's event after making it through a crash on the final lap. CyclingNews race report is available here with some pictures as well.

Pro/1/2 Men Video

     I'm hoping for a dry race today for the second race, the Tour de Francis Park, but right now it is storming with more pop-up showers expected throughout the afternoon. Hopefully, I'll be able to hang in there better today.