Tuesday, December 14

State Champ.....What's Left?

Things where very busy leading up to States and haven't slowed much since.  With the snow and changing weather I've been trying to catch up with the seasons and am almost there.  Enough about personal things, time for cycling and CX States.

As most of us know it was cold and windy, so 'warm-up' was a bit of a challenge for me.  I did manage to get in 2 laps before the whistle blew for line up and I was ready.  As usual I had a poor start, last place going into the first left turn, so I needed to make moves quickly and take some chances.  I worked my way to 3rd or 4th midway through the race and was feeling good / not great, so I decided to try and conserve some energy for the end of the race, so I didn't blow up as bad this time.  I was riding with Goocher, Johnson and Bailey and waiting to see what happened next.  It didn't take long.  David Johnson decided to launch an attack, just out of the woods, to break up our small group.  I went with him and Simon jumped on behind me, we lost Goocher and were heading for 2 to go.

The tempo down the fence line was tough for me and really hurt.  We went over the 'Orange Crush' together but by the time we headed to the Start/ Finish I lost contact with Simon and David and was about 8-10 bike lengths behind.  I dug deep to bridge back but I was starting to make small mistakes and loosing even more time.  Coming to the bell lap I knew anything was possible in CX, so I continued digging for another 1/2 lap.  Soon after the back barrier section I felt the race was over, I wasn't going to catch and had no pressure from behind so I finished in 5th on the day and 2nd in age category 40-44.  David Johnson is from Ohio so I wound up 1st for Michigan Men Masters 40-44.

It has been a great year back (see 2010 races >).  I did some races last season, but planned and trained for this year.  I have more to learn and races to see, so next years plan is already in the works.  So far it looks like I will be focusing on Michigan Classics and Endurance races with a stronger commitment to the Tailwinds CX season.  I will stay with Expert for CX but now will be in the 40-44 group and Masters 35+ for CX.  I'm looking for some changes for sponsorship so we'll see what happens.  Updates will be posted monthly, if not more frequently.  This weekend I plan on sharing my 2010 ride stats and early plan for 2011.

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