With that being said, it was a good thing they were there over the weekend. They spent two days cleaning and the house was still dirty. Actually, it was nasty. It's amazing what you can cover up with furniture and lighting. I bought this house from a friend. I guess you never know how a person lives until you get into their home.
We spent most of the week cleaning just so we could start touching up drywall and painting. I'm not going to lie, at one point I was so disgusted by some of the dirty things we had to clean that I was regretting buying this house. I'm glad I did not see these things before we bought the house or I would have lost all interest. It was gross, but once we got the cleaning done it really is a nice house and will be perfect when we get done with it.
With all our time spent on the house, I did not get to ride much during the first week of May. The only ride of the week came on Wednesday at the first race of the Music City Crits Series. Rain threatened, but held off long enough for us to race. We started off the year as usual for this series with a shortened race. I got stuck at work late and was late for the race. I got in a whole 15 minutes of warm-up. I figured it would be best for me to sit in the back early to finish off my warm-up. It worked good for my legs, but I missed the break that went off on lap 2. A second break also got away and stayed between the front break and the main pack most of the race. I felt really good, but the opportunity to make the break had passed. I sat in the back of the group until the end. The front break lapped us with three laps to go. That lap was the fastest lap of the race and really strung out the peloton. We had been unable to make up any ground on the second break for the past 20 minutes, but the increase in speed that came when we were lapped allowed us to catch the second group at one lap to go. It was a chaotic finish. I tried to help John Carr who was in the lead break that was a lap up. I was up front with two to go and went back trying to find him. I somehow missed him and once I got to the back, I realized he was ahead of me. It took all I had to move back up. I did not provide John with any assistance as I never got back to him. I ended up about 10th in the sprint and 17th on the results. We averaged 25.6 mph for 45 minutes.
We had planned to race the Spartanburg Regional Classic crit. and Athens Twilight come the weekend, but chose to stay home. We just had too much to do to spend three days on the road when I really only cared about Spartanburg. The new Athens course was not my favorite last year and I really didn't care about going back. We were both off work for the planned trip to Spartanburg, so we took advantage of the time to get out on the tandem. It was our first tandem ride in three weeks and it was pretty rough. We put in 65 miles on the CRAM course. The picture below tells how it went for Shannon.
Shannon after our tandem ride
Her legs were toast at 50 miles and I managed to get her to make 15 more. At mile 55, I told her to take all pressure off the pedals and just let her legs go around. Her response: "That's what I've been doing since mile 40." I don't think we are going to make the 100 miles come Memorial Day weekend. We've just had too many setbacks that have constantly interrupted our build-up. It's disappointing and part of me still wants to go for the 100, but I'm sure it would be a suicide ride.
My favorite race of last season just happened to be going on in Nashville the same day as Athens Twilight. The Sevier Park Criterium, known this year as the Max Gander Memorial Criterium, was on Saturday. I decided mid-week that I would do this race and tried to notify all of my family and work friends so they could come see me race. People are always saying how they wish I would do more local races so they can come. Some of my family members think I don't want them to come and that's why I never tell them about races. I just don't tell them because I never talk to them. They don't really support my racing and I know they won't come. They proved my point as not one single person showed up to the Sevier Park race. Not even my parents came. I had ordered a mandatory house shut-down for the crit., but when it came time to leave, nobody would stop working. I was fine with them not going, but they tried to make me feel bad for going to a race while they were working on my house. It really irritated me and got me a little extra fired up for the race.
The race course around Sevier Park is a four-turn, irregularly-shaped square. The start/finish was moved to Granny White Pk, which was the stretch between turns 1 and 2 last year. It completely changed the sprint, making us have to do the full climb up Clayton Ave. take a turn and then have a downhill into the sprint. I liked it because it moved us closer to the Sevier Park Fest crowd, which provides most of the spectators for the race. It also make the tight turn onto Clayton a little less sketchy since it was no longer the final turn.
Like last year, the pace was as relentless as any race I have ever done. There was a first lap prime for free entry into Gateway Cup, which I wanted, but I was way too far back on the start line to have any chance at it. The prime was over after the first lap, but the fast pace was not. The first three laps were brutal. It hurt, especially on legs that were a bit tired from the tandem ride the day before.
Pro/1/2/3 start line
Getting underway
Kyle Tiesler and Tim Henry off the front early
A break of two I AM Racing riders got away early on. Those two riders were Patrick Walle and Jason Chatham. They quickly got a nice gap and then the bridge attempts started. I tried to follow groups across, but nobody would stay on the gas long enough to make a big dent into the lead. After a couple of digs, I had to drop back and rest. The main group then split and I found myself in the second group and had to work hard to bring the two groups back together. I got across the gap and brought most of the riders with me, but when we got there two more riders had slipped away.
Patrick Walle and Jason Chatham off the front
John Carr tows the field
Walle and Chatham
Brad Spears and Brent Ferrell get another two-man break going
The attacks continued from the main group, but we were unable to catch either of the duos ahead. I even tried a solo break at one point, lasting a little over a lap before Kyle Tiesler pulled me back. I don't have the legs to go solo for very long, but I was not about to just lie down and settle for sprinting for fifth. I've been working on my aero position so it was nice to finally be able to put to use what I have been practicing at home.
It was about five laps to go when I got caught. My goal was then to recover and wait for the sprint. It was clear we were not going to catch the leaders. Patrick had actually dropped Jason up front and was now solo. Jason had been caught by the chasing duo of Brad Spears and Brent Ferrell. Patrick looked like he needed no help and proceeded to lap the main group. He went straight to the front to keep the pace high to ensure the chasers were not able to lap up as well.
Ferrell, Spears and Chatham racing for second
Walle on the front of the group after he lapped the field
With just over a lap to go, Kyle Tiesler went off the front of our group. At one to go, Simon Lewis also went on the attack. I was a little too far back, but moved up through turn 1. I finally felt like I had something for a sprint so I tried really hard to make sure I got to a good position before the sprint started. The left side of the road opened up for me out of turn 2 and I took advantage. As I was moving up, Ross Martin accelerated. I went for his wheel. So did Patrick. He looked like a perfect leadout for me, so I backed off to get on his wheel as we entered turn 3 onto Clayton.
We went into turn 3 hot and I had a feeling somebody would bite it. I hoped it would happen behind me, but it happened just ahead. Ross lost the front wheel and hit the ground hard. I was committed to the outside line and had to take to the grass to miss him. I basically just went straight and off into somebody's front yard. There were two people sitting in lawn chairs in the driveway that I finally stopped in and they looked horrified. I don't think they thought I was going to stop before I got to them.
Video still of the last-lap crash
Several others had to take to the grass as well, but everyone else stayed upright. We were all out of the sprint, but at least we were not hurt. I was bummed to again miss out on a chance at a sprint, but so it goes in road racing. Today just wasn't meant to be. I still had a great time though. This race was just as good as last year. My family and friends really missed out.
I averaged 25.6 mph for 50 minutes, which includes the crash. Those unaffected obviously averaged higher, as well as Patrick, who was a lap ahead. Jason took the sprint for second ahead of Spears and Ferrell. Kyle held off the field for fifth and Simon did the same to get sixth, both benefiting from the crash behind them. Both also ride for I Am Racing, which means the team put four riders in the top six today. I ended up 15th.
There are two videos posted below. The first is clips of the Pro/1/2/3 race from the side of the course. Then comes highlights from my handlebar cam, which includes the crash near the end of the video.
Video: Pro/1/2/3 race at the Max Gander Memorial Criterium in Nashville
Video: Highlights from my handlebar cam during the Pro/1/2/3 race
Next up is more dirt for me as we resume the SERC Series in Clemson, SC. Shannon and I plan to make the trip an adventure so stay tuned for more on that.
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