Made the long flight safe and sound. Landing in Brussels, Belgium, its cool here.
Riding here is cool, bike paths and beautiful countryside everywhere.
The grocery store was quite interesting! The house is super nice.
More details and updates to come when available.
:-)
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Pesky RR / Goal Achieved
So Saturday was the "Coastal Classic" Pesky RR. Cat 3 was 75 hilly miles with hill-top finish. I know this race pretty well and tried to stay relaxed for most of the ride, but also without a team go with any big or promising breaks.
The second time up the climb I followed wheels and was in a break of maybe 10 riders but we didn't try to open the gap and I sat up as we got caught and just waited till the final climb. A break escaped on last lap and at the bottom of the climb had built a lead of about 50 seconds I was third wheel behind 2 webcore's they set a solid pace for a bit at the bottom. However there was too many people able to stay with that pace and there was the break up the road that needed to be caught! I took the speed up a notch, planning on being on the front only a bit, but I looked back and we're strung out, I kept the pace going and then wanted the webcore guy (Billy) to pull through he stayed back. It was tough cause this guy was a good climber with me, not really pulling through, but willing to attack, AND a break was up the road that we needed to catch. We caught the last guy of the break with about 1 k to go and soon Billy put in an attack that I couldn't go with so he won by less than 10 seconds, I turned around and couldn't see the 3rd place rider, earning a solid 2nd place.
I had a goal that before I went to Belgium that I make Cat 2, this 2nd place gave me 8 points and with a few collegiate results and 4th GC at San Dimas Stage Race I have the points to upgrade. So even though I didn't win which would have been nice, I did what I needed to, to achieve a bigger goal of Cat 2.
I'm nervous to race with pro 1/2's but look forward to the challenge and growth it presents myself.
Now I need to switch gears and think about flats, sprint intervals, and Kermesse's in Belgium.
The second time up the climb I followed wheels and was in a break of maybe 10 riders but we didn't try to open the gap and I sat up as we got caught and just waited till the final climb. A break escaped on last lap and at the bottom of the climb had built a lead of about 50 seconds I was third wheel behind 2 webcore's they set a solid pace for a bit at the bottom. However there was too many people able to stay with that pace and there was the break up the road that needed to be caught! I took the speed up a notch, planning on being on the front only a bit, but I looked back and we're strung out, I kept the pace going and then wanted the webcore guy (Billy) to pull through he stayed back. It was tough cause this guy was a good climber with me, not really pulling through, but willing to attack, AND a break was up the road that we needed to catch. We caught the last guy of the break with about 1 k to go and soon Billy put in an attack that I couldn't go with so he won by less than 10 seconds, I turned around and couldn't see the 3rd place rider, earning a solid 2nd place.
I had a goal that before I went to Belgium that I make Cat 2, this 2nd place gave me 8 points and with a few collegiate results and 4th GC at San Dimas Stage Race I have the points to upgrade. So even though I didn't win which would have been nice, I did what I needed to, to achieve a bigger goal of Cat 2.
I'm nervous to race with pro 1/2's but look forward to the challenge and growth it presents myself.
Now I need to switch gears and think about flats, sprint intervals, and Kermesse's in Belgium.
Monday, June 9, 2008
I won ...
A PRIME ?!? at Santa Rosa Crit. I don't know exactly what I was doing in the race but I was close for a few primes and got piniched as I started my sprint (for like 7th place) and ended up in 12th in the end.
BUT
I did come away with ...
A Case of beer (Pacifico) a good chance to train for (drinking in) Belgium!
BUT
I did come away with ...
A Case of beer (Pacifico) a good chance to train for (drinking in) Belgium!
Friday, June 6, 2008
2 weeks
In 2 weeks I'll be having dinner in Belgium!
Training is going well, plan to race Santa Rosa crit and good ol' pesky rr before I fly far far away.
Training is going well, plan to race Santa Rosa crit and good ol' pesky rr before I fly far far away.
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