Saturday was the Furnace Creek Park ITT; a 20km event that was a LOT harder than I was prepared for. Lots of steep kicks in along the course that challenged my ability to stay in the 55-tooth chainring, and a long grinder of a climb to the turnaround. I had the best time by over a minute, but I could tell that my legs were suffering from "late season form"-itis.
Sunday was the Yuasa criterium; the last BAR (Best All-around Rider) race of the season and the PA State Criterium Championships. All the teams showed up in full force, including Rite Aid. Currently sitting 3rd in the BAR competition, I had a 195 point lead over 4th place. 1st and 2nd were already out of reach for me. With 200 points going to the winner, the only way I could lose my placing was if the guy in 4th won and I finished out the points. Not likely but still a possibility. I tried getting away a couple of times in breaks. We had a 4-man break going that looked promising about halfway through the race, but nothing was staying away.
The race was also filled with a bunch of crashes. Coming around turn 4 in the first lap there was a good crash that sent one of my teammates to the hospital. Then in the same turn on the next lap another teammate got taken out! He was able to take his free lap and get back into the race. Nine laps into the race on the downhill stretch into turn 4, going about 35mph, sometime tried to fit into a spot that wasn't there and took out someone else's front wheel which caused a huge 10-man pileup that I got caught up in. Luckily I ended up on the top of the pile and my fall was cushioned by the people underneath me. Turn 4 took its last victims on the final lap leading up to the sprint. A couple of people crashed bad, including the defending BAR champ, and the crash impeded some of our guys from contesting the sprint. Still, Brady finished 10th, Keith 14th, and I came in 17th. Out of the 60+ people that started the race, less than 30 finished! Most importantly, I held on to 3rd place in the BAR!
My folks and my little brother (who is bigger than me!) came down to watch the race, and I'm really glad they were able to make it. My mom's a screamer, and I could hear her yelling every lap we came by. I should have just given her a bell! ;)
So now that race season is over, I'm taking the rest of the month off the bike. In the meantime I'll do yoga and some core workouts so I don't turn into a lard, and my training for 2008 will begin on October 1st. -- Al
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