Road Race:
Saturday wasn’t a good day. It was pouring rain, cold, muddy, and generally miserable. The climbs were all big ring and weren’t bad enough to separate the field, so it should have ideally been my race to try and win. It nearly always comes down to a sprint finish. Even better, this was the first time I wasn’t sick in two weeks.
But that didn’t happen. There were a ton of attacks at the beginning of the race. I joined in on two of them before the hills started. My first 10 minutes averaged 320w, the first 20 minutes averaged 300 watts, and the first 30min were at 290w. Then, I blew up. It was really dumb of me to try and work so hard at the beginning of a race that never ends with a breakaway. But, I didn’t want to miss out if this was the first time it would happen when all major schools were represented (Marian, Lindenwood, Lindsey Wilson, and even Northwestern).
So, I decided to do a couple more laps in the pouring rain by myself. I did an hour at 252w average (22mph) before the cold got the better of me and I dropped out. This was the first ever race in which I was dropped. Sad. Actually, not too sad. Only about 25 people finished and there were at least two pretty bad crashes, one needing an ambulance.
Criterium:
Four people from UW did the criterium on Sunday, and most of us opted to skip it. It was wet again, but this time there was a 180 degree turn that didn’t look too appealing. I’ve done rainy crits with 180 degree turns before and they never end well.
My sincere wishes go out to Randall, who was doing his 2nd race weekend, in the Men’s C field. Randall was taken out during the finish line sprint, causing a concussion, a broken collarbone, and face lacerations that needed stitches. He didn’t know where he was for awhile, and he still doesn’t remember the race. Luckily, he was discharged from the hospital after a few hours, and a UW-Milwaukee rider offered to drive him home right away. He’s in good spirits, but head injuries cannot be taken lightly.
Needless to say, most of us were extremely cautious for the races this weekend.
No racing next week because I have a job interview that involves a plane ride, hotel stay, and an all-day interview. Then, I will be blogging every day while in North Carolina for spring break!
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