Shuffling the Deck

     The time has finally come for my favorite races of the year. Last weekend was Athens Twilight, one of my target races of the year. I had been feeling good all week and was hoping my form had returned enough to give me a decent result. Our friend and coworker, Pat, went along on the trip with Shannon and myself.. She had never seen a big crit and was looking for a fun weekend trip. We rolled out of Clarksville on Friday and camped overnight in Chattanooga. I had commuted home from work by bike on Friday afternoon to save time and get in my pre-race ride. It turned into a 1 hour time trial, as a nasty thunderstorm snuck up on me. I almost beat the storm home, seeing only a few close lightning strikes and getting rained on for just the last mile. It made me ride a little harder than I would like on the day before a big race, but I made it home without getting soaked or shocked.

The storm behind me on my ride home from work Friday

     We were up and at 'em early on Saturday in order to finish the drive to Athens so I could race the morning qualifier. I had planned all winter to race the Pro events at all of these big races, but it just wasn't feasible with my current form after all the sick stuff. I was very thrilled to have an itchy throat Friday night and Saturday morning. Got to love the timing of my sicknesses! So with so much still unknown about just how well I'm riding, I was facing the amateur races at Athens. The amateurs get to race the downtown course in the evening before the Pros if they qualify during morning races at the Oconee River Greenway. For the Cat. 1/2 racers, the top 35 move into the Finals. I am not a fan of the greenway course. It is nothing like the Finals course. There's a long uphill to the finish and the backstretch is very long and flat. You usually get the swarming effect going on on the backstretch every lap when people try to avoid sticking their nose out into the wind. It's always difficult to stay up front or move up near the end of the race because the road will be blocked up as riders fan out at the front.

Oconee River Greenway Course

     I put a lot of pressure on myself to qualify for the Finals to at least salvage something out of what has been, up to this point, a disappointing Spring campaign. The course doesn't suit me well with the uphill finish, but I have made it into the Finals the past 2 years so I know it could be done again. Last year I just squeaked in with a 32nd place.

Cat. 3s near the end of their qualifier

     The car was loaded to capacity and of course, the trainer was in the depths of the trunk. After a full unload of the car, followed by multiple reloads as I retrieved all the things I had forgotten to get out the first time, it was time to loosen up and prepare for battle. I got a good start position which turned out to be a very, very good thing. The first 10 minutes of the 50-minute race were very fast. We would slow down near the end of the backstretch and then kill the climb. Our average speed was over 27 mph for the first 15 min. I dropped back and found myself near the end of the line halfway through the race. My legs were not feeling good today, perhaps from yesterday's storm time trial. I was having a hard time accelerating out of turns 2 and 4.

The car was a little heavy in the rear with all our gear as we left Clarksville. We actually rubbed the fender on the tire as we left the driveway.

Cat. 1/2 riderss on the start line

Cat. 1/2 group come sup the climb the first lap

Rider in turn 2

     Turn 2 was my toughest area. It seemed like I hit a manhole cover, reflector, or asphalt patch every lap and had to back off as my back end got sideways. We had only one crash during the race, and it happened early in the race in turn 2. Only one rider was involved. At one point, the group split and I missed the split. I was in no kind of shape to bridge, so I was happy to see things come back together after a lap of worry.

Lots of things going on in this picture. You have a guy crashing and a train going by overhead.

    I had a hard time getting to the front and staying there. It took 3 laps to move up, but only 20 seconds to slide all the way to the back. We were spread all over the road up the hill. One side of the group would be moving faster at the bottom of the hill, causing me to commit to that side, but then the other side would accelerate before the top and to the back I would go. I hate races like that. The deck gets reshuffled every lap and there isn't much you can do about it without staying on the front.

Front riders on the backstretch

A long single-file line

That's me in the orange, just 3 riders from the back.

    Much like Anniston, I found myself too far back in the final laps and had to take some chances to move through the group. I was blocked in the last 3 laps, but was able to weave my way through the middle and get into a good spot coming off turn 4 the final lap. I just held my spot in the sprint and wound up 19th. That was more than enough to put me into the Finals. We averaged 26.7 mph for a race time of 48:33. I only maxed out my heart rate at 185 in the sprint. I was sprinting at 193 last year in my better races. My average heart rate for the race was 171.

Nearing the end of the Cat. 1/2 race

My Heart rate and elevation profile for the Cat. 1/2 qualifying race at Athens

     I tried the seatpost camera again. it worked for the first 40 minutes, then I plowed the manhole cover in turn 2 and the camera dropped down. Got a great view of my tire the rest of the race. I'll post some highlights of the race when I get around to editing it. Here's some video taken by Shannon on her camera.

Video from the morning races

    After a good cool down, we rolled to the hotel and dumped off some things we wouldn't need the rest of the night. I got in a cool shower which felt great on the body. It was a mostly cloudy day, but the temp was in the upper-80s which made me sweat more than I have at any race this year. We then rolled back to downtown Athens, getting a good parking spot in a garage off turn 3. I got to warm up on the trainer in the shade of the garage which was very nice. I lined up super early this year to avoid starting on the back row like I have the past 2 years. I was on the start line 30 minutes before our scheduled start. We ended up starting 15 minutes late, so I sat on the line for 45 minutes. That made for some stiff legs the first few laps. It was worth it though, as I was on the third row of 105 riders that qualified for the Finals. I ran the GoPro on my helmet because there was sure to be some excitement during this race.

     The Amateur Finals are 20 laps of a 1 km course. All categories are lumped into one group. There can be quite a range in speed and ability levels out there. The guy ahead of me on the start line really worried me. He had aero water bottles and was adjusting his brakes all nervously just minutes before the start. Sure enough, he couldn't get his feet clipped in when the whistle blew to start  the race. I got stuck behind him and dropped like a rock through the group. I got clear of him just in time to get behind a guy who pulled his foot out of the pedals. It was a starting disaster for me to the first turn. I was probably 80th going up the hill the first lap.

     The downtown course is way faster than the morning course. It's a big rectangle with all 90-degree right turns. There is a slight incline coming out of turn 2 and then decline to turn 3. The rest of the loop is pretty flat. The crowd was HUGE for an Amateur Finals crowd. Usually the spectators don't wander over until halfway through the Pro Women's event. The crowd gets you pumped to race hard and that keeps the speeds high. I used the adrenaline to work my way up, mostly by running the outside through the corners. It's dangerous out there on the outside, but dang is it fast!

Athens Twilight course in downtown Athens, GA

     By lap 5, I had moved into the top 50. The pace slowed down some, but the group fanned out and I couldn't find any holes to slip through. I got to maybe the top 25 by lap 10, but then I started to fade. I had strong legs, but I am still missing my top end. I can't hold the high heart rates for very long like I have been able to do in the past. I started to struggle coming off turns 2 and 4. That caused me to drop back through the group to 60th or so. I'm really surprised there were still that many riders left in our group with a race as fast as this was. Even with the speed and loudness of the fans, I could still hear Pat's voice over everyone. She is so loud in a good way! I heard lots of people yelling for me. Thank you all, it helped very much!

One rider stayed off the front solo for the first half of the race

Pack in turn 1

Chris Cundiff stayed near the front the entire race, but flatted with 3 laps to go.

     I got a second wind with 5 to go and started moving up. I got hooked up with Shannon Williams and we used that outside line to get back into a decent position. I made a big surge to get back into the top 25 with 3 to go, but then I died again. My heart just couldn't do it. I had no speed left when it came time to take it up a notch. I faded back again to 60th again with a lap to go. There's no moving up at that point. Your race is over. I just tried to get through the last lap clean and save it for tomorrow. I dodged the crash coming off turn 4 and  barely even sprinted for the line, finishing in 57th. What a disappointment. I really thought I could be in the running for a win here, but I had no chance. My speed just isn't there. We averaged 27.4 mph for the 20 km race, finishing in 26:14. I averaged a higher heart rate than in the qualifier at 175, but maxed out at only 183 for the evening race.

Riders coming out of turn 2 and starting up the hill

Me sprinting the hill with the GoPro on my head. Made it easy for Shannon and Pat to spot me.

My heart rate and elevation graph from the Finals. The heart rate line was very steady compared to the qualifying race. Not much recovery to be had in the Finals.

     Here is the full video from my helmet cam. There's a few interesting moments, but no crashes on there. We actually had a safe race this year.

Full Amateur Finals video from my helmet cam

    We hung around and watched the Pro races. They are so fun! The crowd was big. This year they seemed to be more interested in the racing, which is much better than a bunch of unruly drunks like we saw last year. The Men's race was fast as usual. I know I don't have the speed to be in the Pro race, but it really eats at me while I watch. I want to be out there so bad! Being in the big show is way better than watching it. Maybe next year...

     Here's a video of all the Twilight races taken as we walked around the venue.

Video clips from Athens Twilight

     We were up early on Sunday, despite a late night. We wanted to hit church in Roswell before racing began. I woke up with a real sore throat, not just that scratchy feeling. I guess the late nights and early rises of this week were catching up with me. We took in church and then rolled over to the race in plenty of time to get ready. I did a shorter warm-up today due to my legs being tired. I had some major quad burn while riding the trainer. I was worried how I would feel, but the legs came around during the race.

    I got a decent start spot for the Cat. 2/3 race. I was in the middle of the group of 93 riders that started the Historic Roswell Criterium. We were scheduled for 60 minutes, but the officials decided to shorten us to 50 minutes due to the races being behind on time. Again, I was bummed that I wasn't in the Pro race, but I saw this as an opportunity to get some upgrade points and maybe get some money to help with the always-rising travel expenses.

     The course at Roswell has 5 turns, all lefts. Turns 1, 2 and 3 are close together after a very long front stretch. The backstretch begins after turn 3 and features a short climb and then a downhill into a tight turn 4. The road continues downhill slightly to turn 5. To me, turn 5 is the tricky corner. The road slopes away from you and the corner tightens at the exit. To add to the fun, there's also two brick crosswalks in the center of the turn. That's where most of the crashes happen. I saw several in the early morning races. The straightaway from Turn 5 to the finish looks like a million miles. It is very easy to misjudge your sprint here.

Roswell course

Cat. 4/5 Men

Cat. 4/5s in turn 5

Crash video from Turn 5 during the Cat. 4/5 race. Notice the guy catch my bike.

     Genius me forgot to stick the SD card in my GoPro, so I got no video. I had planned to run it on my helmet again, but you sort of need that SD card. I had a good start and never dropped back too far. I was much, much more aggressive today, pulling out of line and sprinting up the hill to keep myself in the top 1/3 of the field. I was having fun running through a flower bed on the left side of the road. It was smooth and never blocked by other riders. After the race, I was looking at that flower bed and noticed two huge rocks buried amongst the plants. Glad I missed those!

       My legs got better and better as the race went on. Two riders slipped of the front and nobody wanted to chase. I actually considered trying to bridge at one point. That's quite the opposite from yesterday when I was just hanging on for my life at the back of the group. I never did try to bridge because it looked as if we might bring them back, so I waited, just staying in the top 15 and watching the race unfold.

The two leaders

Cat. 2/3 peloton

     Our chase lost interest and the break did stick. We were left to sprint for third. The race had been clean until 6 laps to go. Turn 5 then claimed it's first victims. I was on the inside and slipped under the crash. One rider hooked his handlebar on the inflatables along the barrier. That sent him flying over the bars, taking out several other riders in the process. My friend, Chris Cundiff, was on my outside and got caught up in the mess. He said he "ate the red inflatable," but didn't go down. The crash left a big gap in the group. I worked hard for a full lap to close that down and get us all back together. We had a near-crash in turn 4 that opened another smaller gap, but everybody stayed upright.

The group climbs the shaded hill on the backside of the course.

The two who got away...

Me a few riders back, in the white Maxxis jersey today.

Me coming off turn 4 just a second after the near-crash. the guy on the inside is trying to get his feet back into the pedals.

     I was pegged with 3 laps to go, but I was at the front in a good position. I stayed top 10, but then found myself in another tight spot coming to 1 lap to go. There was another crash just ahead of me in turn 5. The two riders in front of me slid out and somehow ended up flipping. I managed to get through with only brushing the shoulder of the second rider, but was again faced with a big gap.

     I closed the gap down as we heard the bell ringing for 1 to go. I tried to pull out of line and move to the front, but the wind hit me like a sledgehammer. I only gained a few spots before having to duck back into line. I just didn't have the strength left to move all the way up. I got blocked in up the hill and found myself sliding backwards with nowhere to go. I have a knack for picking the wrong line on the last lap. I was way, way back coming off turn 5, and despite picking off some riders in the sprint, I wound up 30th. It was another huge disappointment considering how good I felt. Those gaps just came at bad times and finished me off before the sprint. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time for the gaps, but looking at it from a crash standpoint, I was in the right place at the right time to not get torn up. I'm grateful for a safe race no matter what the outcome was. We had averaged 27.2 the first 15 minutes of the race, but once the chase lost interest, we slowed to a 26.7 mph average by the finish. We clicked off 22.3 miles during the for the 50:06 of racing. My heart rate was still low. I averaged 170 and maxed out at only 179. I'm not going to get a good finish until I get my max back up to at least 190.

    We hung around the rest of the afternoon to watch the other races. The Pro races are always fun to watch. I am a big fan of cycling no matter what category is out there racing. The Pro Men looked more tame today as compared to last night in Athens. I kind of wished I had ridden Pro this time, but whatever, too late now. I was excited to see them bring back the crowd primes. People were throwing money from everywhere. They had over $800 for the Gambler prime with 2 laps to go during the Men's race. I wish people would toss out money like that for sponsorship. Maybe I should work on my talking skills like announcer Chad Andrews. He talked those people into giving all  kinds of money.

Pro Women

Pro Women await call-ups as they become the center of the photographer's attention

Eventual Women's winner Laura Van Gilder rolls up to the start line during call-ups.

We had dinner at the Fickle Pickle during the women's race, including their famous fried pickles.

We had a good view of the start/finish line from our table at the Fickle Pickle.

Pro Men stretched out from turn 4 all the way to turn 5

Turn 4

The street was lined with brick sidewalks and green hedges

A Kenda rider blurs by in turn 4 while my GoPro records from street level.

A white picket fence along the uphill was next to my favorite flower bed. I made a few tracks through those plants during my race.

Some gaps forming in the Pro Men's group as they come off turn 3 and start the uphill.

The field has split this lap as they go up the hill.

A few riders slipped away in the closing laps. Three riders stayed away to the finish.

2 laps to go for the Pro Men

    Here's a short video of the Roswell races shot by Shannon and by myself.

Roswell Crit. video

     It was a great weekend despite the lackluster finishes. I still had a great time. It was cool to introduce Pat to big-time crit. racing. I think she was amazed by the speeds and the dedication of the riders. We got home really late Sunday night. It was a groggy Monday at work, but it's all worth it. I can't wait to do it all again next weekend! Spartanburg is Friday...in Pro...

    Look for race updates on here. They'll post a link to live video if one is available.

90%

     It was good to get back on the road and travel this weekend. I have missed racing so far this year. It has seemed like a slower spring than normal. The target race for this weekend was the Sunny King Criterium in Anniston, AL. It's the first big crit. of the year in the southeast. The race is part of the new National Criterium Calender, which is made up of the biggest races in the country. It's timing of just a week before Speed Week causes the race to draw a stacked field, which makes for fast, aggressive racing.

     I picked up Shannon at the airport in Birmingham after her trip back from Utah. We camped Friday night at the Pine Glen campground in the middle of the Talladega National Forest. We got there just before midnight and got the tent set up right as a rain shower moved in. It rained for most of the night, but we were too tired to be bothered by it.

    Saturday morning was chilly and cloudy. Our camp neighbors were very entertaining. They were the type of people that had no patience for children and probably shouldn't have any...yet they had four. They were some backcountry folk that were entertaining and annoying at the same time. The guy was possibly the cousin of the West Virginia Ninja, Diamond Dave.We had a nice breakfast on the camping stove and then explored the campground. It looked much better in the daylight. There was a nice creek at the back that we walked around before loading the car and moving to Anniston for the race.

Our camp

We picked up a friend in Alabama

Shoal Creek

     We arrived in Anniston several hours before my race. The weather was getting better. It had become warmer and the sun was peaking through the clouds every few minutes. It's normally windy when we race Anniston, but the breeze was very light today. The crit. is run in conjunction with the city's Noble Street Festival. The city really supports the race and welcomes all the riders. We walked around during the Masters race and chatted with some of the local volunteers that were marshaling the turns. They were all very excited to see an event like this in their town. I will have to say that the marshalls were by far the best I have ever seen. They paid attention, kept the roads clear and were nice. Can't beat that. We cheered on our friend Chris Cundiff during the Masters event as I played with the GoPro. I tried some different shots and a
angles, placing the camera on the end of the broom stick so I could get shots from above the riders.

Masters racers

The break that stayed away during the Masters event

     I have raced Anniston the past two years in the Cat. 2/3 race. We usually have 120 or so riders. This year, they split us into two separate races. I liked it that we got rid of some of the less experienced Cat. 3s, but the size of the race was much smaller. We only had 38 starters in the Cat. 2 race. I like the bigger fields and the longer races, which is why I want to get into the Pro races whenever possible. Our race was set for 45 minutes on the 0.7-mile course around downtown Anniston. The finish line was at Noble Street, right alongside the festival.

     The course is a simple 4-corner rectangle. All corners are 90-degree lefts. The finish straight is a long uphill drag that usually features a tailwind, while the backside of the course is the opposite with a headwind downhill. Turns 3 and 4 are tighter than the other corners and are encountered at higher speeds. That tends to be the scary section for us in a large group.

    The wind magically picked up in the 30 minutes prior to my race. It was the usual direction. I got in a quick 2 laps on the race course between the Cat. 4 and Cat. 3 races. The rest of my warm-up was spent on the trainer beneath a tree in a bank parking lot. There was a stupid bird that kept coming to the tree and showering down poop. He hit Shannon as she tried to nap on a blanket in the grass and he hit my arm as I rode the trainer. Stupid bird...

    I felt good on the trainer and was able to get my heart rate up pretty high, which is something I haven't been able to do the past few weeks. I got to the start line 12 minutes early to find the first two rows were already full.

    It was a fast start and I was unable to improve much from my back row start the first few laps. We were rocking the uphill. It finally slowed down after 4 laps and I moved up on the backstretch, only to drop back again as there were attacks on the uphill almost every lap. I was felling better than I have felt since getting sick, but the hill was killing me. I had a hard time holding wheels and couldn't get out of the back of the group. My legs were not hurting today, I just seemed to be lacking the power needed to carry that kind of speed up the hill. I looked down once to see 28 mph on my GPS as we crossed the start/finish line. We had a 26.1 mph average for the first 15 minutes.

Cat. 2 pack

     The pace stayed high for the first 25 minutes. A few breaks of 2 and 4 riders got away, but we were able to catch them with relative ease. I finally got up towards the front with 5 laps to go. I was very comfortable with my skills today, perhaps too comfortable at times. I was sliding in tight spaces and grazing hips with my hoods as I went by. It freaked a few people out, but I was fine bumping. Hips and butts are much softer on the hands than hitting trees.

Turn 3

     I couldn't hold my position at the front. The pace picked up on the hill the last few laps and I was in difficulty again. I had been swinging the outside in turn 4 to carry the maximum amount of speed up the hill during the middle part of the race. That had mad a HUGE difference in the amount of effort I needed to stay in the front up the hill. The last few laps I got pinched on the inside in turn 4 and lost my momentum. It was bad line choice on my part. I was near the back with 2 laps to go and we were rocking up the hill. The group was altogether and my dream of a mass sprint for the win was looking probable. The only problem was I was too far back!

     We did not slow on the backstretch with 1 1/2 to go and I was unable to move up. I got pinched again in turn 4 and was just 3 riders from the back of the line of 37 riders as we took the bell with a lap to go. There was a slowing before turn 1 and I shot to the inside and picked up a few positions. The group fanned out between turns 1 and 2. I took advantage and started working my way up through the middle of the bunch. I continued squeezing between people down the backstretch. I got to within one row of the front before the gap closed. I  wanted to go to the front, but I couldn't get through. I should've been more patient and not committed to the center of the pack so early. The left side of the road was wide open for the last 100 meters before turn 3.

     We were spread out very wide going into turn 3 and that led to some bumping coming off the corner. I thought we were going down, but everybody held themselves up. We lost a lot of momentum though. I went from top 10 back to about 15th. I had the legs left for a sprint, but I didn't make up much ground, gaining a spot and losing a spot before the line. The slower uphill sprints don't suit me that well and I ended up 14th. That's my best ever finish in Anniston and much improvement over the past few weeks. I'd say I'm back to at least 90% now. Still, I believe I could've been top 5 if I had positioned myself better. Positioning is key in a race that finishes in a bunch sprint. I can only think of six times in my life that I've put myself in a good position coming into the sprint. Of those six times, I have won four times and been 2nd twice. Definitely going to have to work on that! Race stats were 44:20 with a 25.7 mph avg speed. 28 laps for a total of 19.0 miles. My max heart rate of 183 was hit 5 times during the race, including at the finish.

Heart rate and elevation graph for my race

     I ran the GoPro on my seatpost during the race. I'm still editing the video and will post it as soon as I get finished. To hold you over until then, check out the videos below. First one is of the final few laps on the Cat. 2 race taken from the live feed. The second video is clips we took during the day. I tried to GoPro out, filming from above the riders, below the riders and any place I could fit the camera for a different angle. Just a reminder, it was my first time trying this so please excuse the shakiness in some spots. I'll get better at it. My favorite angle is early in the video, during the Masters race, when I climbed up a street light and hung off over the top of the riders. That got me some funny looks from the riders, spectators and especially from the official on the moto.

Final 2 laps of the Cat. 2 race taken from the live feed provided by Jacksonville State University.

Video of the Masters, Cat. 2s, Pro Women and Pro Men shot by Shannon and myself. Used the GoPro a lot at various angles.

     We had heard the the local barbecue joint called Dad's Bar-b-que was really good, so we swung by after my race. It lived up to the hype for sure, serving up tasty pulled pork, chicken, fried green tomatoes, baked beans, cornbread and more. Mmmm! We were surprised when Kenda Pro rider Phil Gaimon came in the door. It was less than an hour before the Pro Men's race and he bought a few pounds of barbecue and a jug of sweet tea. It must have been for after the race. We didn't hang around for the entire Pro Men's event. We had to be home to teach church on Sunday and it was a long drive back to Clarksville. We made it home just before 1 a.m. Here's some pics from the Pro events.

Kenda Pro rider Phil Gaimon in line at Dad's Bar-b-que

Tree growing out of a building at the exit of turn 1

Pro Women on the backstretch

GoPro...on a stick!

Me going for a low shot in turn 4

Pro Men were just a blur under the street lights of Anniston

     I've had a good week in preparation for Athens Twilight and Roswell. I'd give myself 95% of full fitness on Tuesday at the group ride. It felt so great to go from struggling to hold a wheel at 24 mph with a tailwind just two weeks ago, to launching attacks and sitting out front solo at 28 mph going into the wind. Hopefully, I'll be rocking 100% fitness come the weekend. I'm not sure if there will be any live coverage from Athens, but it might be worth Googling if you really want to see how the races play out. Check out the USA Crits series page for updates on Twitter as the race goes on.

Cruising green roads near Springfield, TN

Digging Out of the Hole

    The week off really helped me to recover from the virus. Yes, I'm still talking about this virus. It has been devastating to my body. I actually felt normal again by the end of the rest week and began riding. I did some mountain biking and felt great. The legs were strong and the second day back on the bike I bettered my best lap time on my trail by another 10 seconds. But I could feel that my endurance was gone. After an hour, my legs were really tired. Tired legs was a good feeling though. It sure beats the heck out of feeling bonked all the time. It was like I couldn't digest anything for 3 weeks. That makes it hard to sustain energy levels for prolonged exercise.

     Some good things have come out of the sickness. I had some nagging forearm tendonitis that was bothering me in Dalton. It was caused by a ton of trail cutting with a heavier pair of cutters than I'm used to. Thanks to rest, Biofreeze massages (thanks Pat and Shannon!), ultrasound and kinesiotape, it is long gone. I also strained my left glute picking up the trash behind the house. I did a bunch of squatting one day and it really aggravated my glute. The bike didn't make it worse, but it was preventing healing so taking time off got that pain to go away too.

     I've also lost weight. I have dropped 11 pounds total since the Dalton race, 2 days prior to getting sick. I haven't seen this low of a number on the scale for almost 3 years. I can tell my pants have become loose around the waist, but I notice no other change. No conversion into a mountain goat yet. The hills still hurt just as bad as before. Shannon has also been sick, so it isn't just me. I think the bug has been going around town. When you come into contact with so many people every day like we do, it's bound to get you at some point.

    I'd say I have recovered now, I just have the lingering effect of loss of form to deal with. I've lost all my speed and all my endurance. I'm used to hammering the local group rides and going off the front at will. Now, I'm struggling to stay in the paceline at 23-24 mph. It's really frustrating. I felt like I was in great condition at Dalton. I was ready for the Pro races at Speed Week and beyond. Now I'm left with the Cat. 2/3 races and even those will be a difficult challenge. I'm learning patience for sure.

     I've been putting in a lot of miles since feeling better. It feels good to be able to ride again, even if I am going slow. Shannon has been out in Utah for Amber's graduation from BYU, so I've had plenty of time to be on the bike. I got in almost 6 full hours of riding this past Saturday. The plan was to ride 3 hours on the road and end at my parents house, where I would then ride the mountain bike for an hour, followed by some trail work. I had a great day and ended up doing some extra. I rode a very hilly 4 hours on the road before hitting the trail for 45 minutes. The road ride was really fun. I hit some steep climbs that I haven't ridden in a while. I'm convinced that I have become a softy when it comes to steep climbs. Other than a few trips to the mountains, I haven't ridden any good hills in the past year. The mountain bike ride was a blast too. I ran the GoPro on my seatpost while Snoop was behind me. It made for a cool video. Check it out below. I then did trail work and rode back home in the dark, giving me a total of 85 miles.

Snoop in pursuit

Lizard

Snoop!

Tree growing out of a rock

     Sunday was another good day. I went out for a slower 40 miles with Keith and Jonathan from Clarksville. We saw a pair of foxes along the way. You don't see them very often. The phrase "sly as a fox" came about for good reason.

    Work has been crazy lately. I'm splitting my work time between two clinics now. It can be hectic at times, especially at my home clinic. I don't exactly enjoy the way things go there most days, especially when people dump work on me. I've been stuck late a lot the past few months. It sucks to get home at 7:30 and then still have a ride to do. There are some perks to riding late though, like watching the sun set from the bike, lack of traffic on the roads, and the satisfaction I get from seeing people sitting on the couch watching TV as I ride by. I love being active when others aren't. But I also hate crawling off the bike at 9:30 or 10 and going straight  to bed to rest up for another early morning.

     My form is slowly coming back. I rode the local group ride this week and noticed a vast improvement from last week. My speed is getting a little better. I could actually stand up and go off the front. I didn't stay off for long and I'm still a long way from where I was before the illness, but it is a sign of improvement. My sprint is still decent so that will come in handy at the races if I can just hang in until that final lap. We set a new record on our loop this week, covering the 25 miles with a 23.7 mph average. I think we can break 24 mph because I really didn't do that much work. When I feel good, I know I can really crank it up if they want to try for a faster average. You never can tell with that group though. They may ride slow for the next month.

    This weekend it's back to racing with the Sunny King Criterium in Anniston, AL. I'll be doing the Cat. 2 race and hoping for some good legs. I want to use this race to decide whether I should race Pro or Amateur at Speed Week. It's also a good opportunity to get some upgrade points and accumulate some prize money to help offset travel costs. The races will be broadcast live for most of the day. Here's the link if you want to watch. http://sunnykingcriterium.com/  Cat. 2 race is at 3:50pm. If it's like the past few years, you can send people a shout-out through the website and often get them a better starting spot, so please help a brother out if you can!