Ruminations on the past weekend..

One phrase sums up the past weekend in Iowa, "hot and heavy." All three races, though vastly different in their many aspects, were as balls-to-the-wall as they could get. A 27-28mph average in Friday's road race, the killer climb of Snake Alley and it's accompanying monster descent, and Sunday's puke-your-guts-out-omg-wtf-this-shit-is-crazy-fast crit made the weekend epic.

I went into the weekend with a chip on my shoulder, ready to either kick ass or chew bubble gum.. and I was fresh out of bubble gum. Lining up at the start, at the back of 70+ fields, on the surface sucks. They do; however, give you killer motivation and tunnel vision on your goal. Not spending the whole race protecting your 10th position "baby" takes complacency and kicks it in the butt. From the line your mind's racing and your head's on fire. That's the way I'd like to be, a blazing comet.

The weekend started well enough with the win on Friday. To be honest the sweetest part was sharing it with my team. Seeing DanO take off the front selflessly leading me out and sitting down to dinner that night sharing their company, it gave the victory a soul. I'd never want to do this sport alone. From there on out, it was an effort to cement what I had started. Snake Alley sat on the radar as the most visible challenge. The cornered descent was already freaking me out, more so than than Snake Alley itself. Rain moved in and wetted the course for the 4's only to dry out in a few laps, but when it came down the our 3pm start-time, the rain started and didn't stop. The alley got wet, wild, and not so wonderful. Racers' wheels skidded out, sometimes resulting in a fall. Most advice pointed to sitting the saddle, in order to keep rear wheel traction, but due to my weight I could get away with standing. My tire did slide out, but after attempting the hill briefly in the saddle I quickly moved to a standing-only approach. Not using my 60 something starting position as a crutch I gunned the hill and slammed the descent in order to make up roughly 40 odd positions, to hover in 21st place. Each lap the Alley got harder and harder, after nine laps I was really feeling it. At the peak I sought to shift from small ring to big to start the descent. Being pretty cashed I got sloppy and didn't realize that I was still in my large cog. Big mistake. My chain is too short to fit the big ring/big cog combo. Unclipping my right foot I started the descent by frantically kicking my chain, trying to get it back into the small ring. It was no good. I DNF'd shortly thereafter with a technical. I was so mad I couldn't look anyone in the face.

Sunday was redemption day. I liked the course. The hill was moderately steep and quite long. I felt strong in my practice climbs and began feeling confident for the win. What I didn't factor into the equation was the other 70+ riders that would take the field with me. They were some of the craziest mother f***ers I've ever seen. For 18 laps fearless contenders launched attacks on both the downhill and uphill. The first left after the start/finish was also a hotbed of activity. Racers would fly up next to you leading into the turn and squeak between you and the curb. Only one option presented itself on Sunday, fight fire with fire. Sitting in the top 10% I kept the pace high, hung wheels, and took flyers. The whole thing was going to hell in a hand basket, but in a good way. I wanted to call home to mom and go hide, that's how I knew things were looking good. By the last lap things got epic. The familiar sense of the impending finish washed over me, as we entered lap 18. On the downhill I took off the front pushed well over 40mph. Making short work of the uphill my tank was empty. I recover quickly and decided to regroup, letting a few racers pass me. Big mistake. At least one rider went down shortly thereafter and took me with him, taking my current 5th place position, my chance at victory, and the whole race in general to hell. That's how it goes sometimes though. Instead of standing on the podium basking in glory and banking home another $250, I'm licking my wounds and dishing out another $105 for kit. I wouldn't have it any other way.