That drained feeling was gone for the most part the week following the 2019 DINO race at Versailles. I spent the week working hard on both sprinting and TT efforts, setting a new PR on that 18-mile loop I have been running regularly without a warm-up.
The weekend brought another day of racing on the dirt. This time we were up in Owensboro, KY for the Ben Hawes XC. With my only trip to this race ending in a hard-fought W (plus Dina and Dad winning their races too), I have nothing but smiles for this place. Race distance is three laps on a loop that is close to 9 miles long. This year the race was taking place in the opposite direction than what I raced it before in 2017. We would be going counter-clockwise which has totally different flow. I rode most of the loop to warm-up just to see it again since the race two years ago is the only time I have ridden here. The trail was dry and fast and the weather was beautiful, though a bit on the hot side as is to be expected in August.
The start was the same with a grassy climb up through the woods, followed by a quick descent into the singletrack. Passing can be tough as there are few spots wide enough to get by at the speeds we roll here. I was the only rider in Pro/1 Open. I was to start with the Cat.1 19-39 group, but there weren't any. So I was combined in with the Cat. 1 40+/50+ group. Don't let the age fool you though as these guys are in great shape and most are local so they know this trail well. I would still have my work cut out for me.
As expected after a heavy week of training, I didn't have the best legs. I was still able to win the dash to the top of the hill and held that lead into the singletrack where I quickly opened up a 30 second gap. I spent most of the first lap just getting into my flow and learning the loop. One rider chased me the entire first lap, still just 30 seconds back as we came to the end of the lap.
My front skewer came open early in lap 2. I did a quick stop to tighten it back up. I expected to see the rider coming up behind me, but he was not there. Turns out he had flatted, handing me a lead gap of 1:20. I just rode steady throughout lap 2 and kept the gap at 1:20. Once lap 3 began, I tried to pick up the pace with more effort. The legs hurt, but were strong. After slowing my lap time on lap 2, I was able to flip the clock on lap 3 for my fastest lap of the day. Final gap back to 2nd was over 3 minutes. My legs were tired afterwards, but overall I didn't feel too bad. No weakness or bonking feeling like the week before when I finished at Versailles. Getting better.
One good thing about racing Ben Hawes is that I always see a lot of people I know, some that I haven't seen in a while. Kiersta Tucker was one of those this year. It was so good to catch up with her and watch her ride like the beast she is. She and Dina were the only riders in Cat. 1 Women. Dina felt like she learned a lot just chasing Kiersta around the course.
After a couple of easy days it was time to line up at the Nashville Speedway for Race #7 of the Music City Crits Series, back on the kidney bean. I was very focused on this one. I knew I was on good form and could contend for the win if I did things right. The finishes of these races have been playing out mostly the same way when we have a bunch sprint. Michaelee Bowes drills it in Turn 2 on the oval the final lap and puts out massive watts down the backstretch. Whoever is on his wheel, usually David Howe, then lays down even more watts as we drop onto pit road and head for the final chicane. It is so fast at that point that positions don't change much between the start of the chicane and the finish. I knew how it would probably play out, I just had to be on those wheels on the final lap. Easier said than done.
My legs were a little sluggish when I got on the bike that afternoon, but got better as I put in some efforts. I went harder in my warm-up than in past weeks as I wanted to be ready so I didn't miss any splits early on. We had 41 riders for the Pro/1/2/3 race for 60 minutes of fun that would end under the lights. The pace was fast early and I did my best to stay hidden. Things slowed slightly at 25 minutes so I moved up.
The amount of attacks increased around 40 minutes. I followed a few accelerations as I was afraid of the late break getting away like it does so many times in these races. Everything came back together though and a bunch sprint looked imminent as we saw 3 laps to go. I was too far back at this point after getting caught in those efforts I made trying to get in a break. John Carr found me in the group and offered up some help in going to the front. I hooked on his wheel and we started marching forward. We were steadily moving up, but not quick enough as we were still too far back at the bell. I saw Michaelee and David Howe getting lined up ahead. It looked like there was nowhere to go to move up, but then the inside opened up going into the first turn and I quickly shot the gap along the edge of the grass which set me up on the outside through the exit of this first chicane onto the oval. I pushed hard to get up to Howe's wheel, which surprisingly wasn't being fought over. I got to him quicker than I expected and had to check up ever so slightly. As I did, Michaelee punched it a little earlier than normal with Howe right on him. I got gapped by 3-4 bike lengths as I had just given up my momentum. I pursued all the way down the back, but was just far enough back to not get a draft. I could not match their power output and could only watch them ride away as we rolled toward pit road. I was out of gas before the chicane, losing two spots into the turn, then one more in the sprint to the line. I crossed the line 6th, my best finish ever in this series, but I was very disappointed. It played out just like I wanted and I messed it up. Dang it! Thanks John for the tow to the front to at least give me a chance.
David Howe had cameras front and rear for this race. Check out his video below. Last lap starts at 58:05 and you can clearly see how this race shook out and my error behind him.
After a few days of rest it was time for the DINO finale in Indy at Southwestway Park. It was raining in Indy on Saturday, so Dina and I decided to ride the road at home instead of trying for a muddy pre-ride. Sarah was kind enough to put us up again for the night so we would be in Indy very close to the race site come Sunday morning.
We had 10 riders in Elite for four blazing laps around Southwestway. I came into this final race 3rd in the points standings. I could not catch the top two, but I wanted to be on the podium. A top 5 today woul surely make that happen. I never seem to do great at Southwestway, but with the way I have been riding lately I would be disappointed being outside the top 5. I was in a similar points situation coming into this race last year and it did not end well. I could not hold onto 3rd after crashing in my warm-up and breaking a finger.
As always, the start was tough as it goes uphill after a short downhill dash in the grass. A long uphill grade is followed by a big climb up Mann Hill, the tallest hill in Indianapolis. I had a good jump off the line and came off the first turn in 3rd. I had trouble holding the front two as we raced up the grass toward the singletrack. I could tell right away that my legs were not great. I was holding up a pack of snarling lions when we reached the trail. I gave them room to come by and instantly regretted that as the first rider bumped me right off the trail and into a tree. I had to slow almost to a full stop to keep from going down and to get back on the trail. Just like that I was in 10th. I had nothing in the legs at that moment to even try to sprint back on the end of the line. I found myself alone as we started up Mann Hill for the first time. By the top, I felt like I was in survival mode. Not how you want to feel one mile into a race. The rest of the first lap was a serious struggle, but somehow I was able to pick up one position, passing a poor soul who was obviously having an even worse day than me.
The struggle was still very real the second trip up Mann Hill. I was being caught by Expert riders at this point and did my best just to stay out of their way. Finally, in the middle of lap 2, I started to at least stabilize my position within the group of Experts. In lap 3, I felt a little better and began passing the Experts back and moved into 8th. I chased hard the rest of lap 3 in an attempt to gain points. I knew the rider behind me in points was ahead of me on the trail. I didn't catch anyone despite feeling pretty good the second half of this lap. Mann Hill smoked my legs the fourth time up. After that I was just trying to finish. I did manage to catch up to another rider and beat him in the closing section to take 7th. It wasn't much of a recovery, but that effort was just enough for me to hang on to 3rd in the series by just 3 points. I felt sick for about two hours after the race. I have no idea why I felt so off today, unless the heavy racing load of the past month finally caught up to me.
Dina had another solid day, taking 3rd in the race and 2nd in the series for Expert Women. Another great DINO Series in the books and many thumbs up yet again from the riders.
I still felt off on Monday after Southwestway, then woke up Tuesday with a sore throat. Aha! So that's what was going on in the race. I was getting sick and just didn't know it yet. I took several days off the bike and worked on catching up on easy things around the farm, trying the let my body rest and do its thing. We made some new Dragon's Toe Jam which is made from the very delicious Dragon's Toe Pepper. It's about as much of a relish as a jam and features a little bit of spice mixed with a whole lot of sweet. It might be my favorite thing we have made so far.
I was a little panicked all week since the Tennessee State Criterium Championship was coming up on Saturday. I had really been working hard for it. The course looked favorable for me and my form had good enough to be in the middle of the fight. Medication always makes my heart rate do crazy things duirng race efforts, but the sickness was bad enough that I had to take some or risk still being off the following weekend at Gateway Cup. I'll let you know how the meds worked in the next post.
