Criteriums: I began the year considering myself as primarily a crit racer, so with that in mind I had a really poor showing. To do well in crits you not only have to be fit but you have to be intensely motivated to take risks and muscle your way to the front at the end of the race. I lacked that killer instinct this season and sort of sat back. Out of 10 or 11 races I didn't ever crack the top 10. Fail.
Road Races: we're short on RRs around here, so I only did two. Baraboo #1 was a leg breaker and I got dropped hard on the first set of climbs. I fared better in Whitewater, sitting easily and sprinting uphill for 6th. Surprisingly good.
Track: my introduction to track leaves me with the impression that it's a total blast, and it's was nice to have some success at it. I got my first sanctioned win in the Danish (which I like) and made a lot of silly mental errors in the points-based races that I (hopefully) learned a lot from. A good handful of top finishes and lots of fun. At the VeloCity tour, where messengers competed for a ticket to the messenger world championships in Dublin, I raced against the non-messengers and won all my races (3 match sprints, 1 scratch race, 1 points race) and was the overall non-messenger winner. I'd have liked to see how I'd do against a couple of the messenger guys, though the non-messengers had some strong guys as well.
Alleycats:I had a great year of alleycats last year, not so much this year. Had a mediorcre Tour da Chicago (20th overall, 3rd out of town), I survived Stupor Bowl despite a wicked hangover and crazy-low temperatures. Skipped MMI (alleycat burnout already?). Did To Hell In a Bike Basket (not a huge fan of points/game alleycats, but to each their own). Tour de Franzia, mixed feelings. The No Bullshit Brodeo was a lot of fun - riding with Frank and then having him execute a tactically perfect attack at the end to win it. DP and I threw Tron, which turned out well but was a heavy burden to bear. Threw away potential victory at Fire's [M]CAT due to a typical stupid mistake. Threw away potential out of town victory at Sadie Hawkins in Chicago after a brilliant ride with Kelly because of another typical, stupid mistake on my part. I'm left with a lot of disappointment.
Mountain Biking:Sadly missed 24-9 due to a gnarly eye infection that played havoc with my mid-summer racing. Did Ore to Shore in Marquette, which was a big highlight. Fun times in a great place with great people. I had no expectations for the race but felt okay about it, now I can try to improve upon it next year. Gnome Fest. Amazing fun, hats off to Cale and crew. My introduction to bike polo, which was a total blast. I need to ride more dirt.
Cyclocross:Started early with the Bandit Cross series in Chicago. To my total shock I won the first race, missed the second, won the third, and took second overall. Must have been a fluke, I thought. Then the real season ramped up. 11 races, with (sorted) placings as follows: 2, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 6, 7. Second place in the series overall. For the first time in my bike racing career I would step up to the line and know that I had a bag of hammers I was ready to drop on people. Many fun courses, indescribably fun times with you all. Ride the tiger, holy diver, etc. However, a black cloud descended toward the end of the season. The more races I went without a win, the less satisfied I was with 2nd place, the less motivated I became, the less fun I had. More on this below, but reflecting like this is good because I realize that I far exceeded my expectations for myself at the beginning of the year. Maybe I'll be taking beer handups in the P/1/2 races next season. Oh, and Zack built me an amazing bike that I'm always pumped to ride.
Low points:
- Missed M-B-M.
- Crucial, costly mistakes in alleycats.
- Mid-season injuries. Knee and eye problems put a serious damper on the summer. That may have helped my cross racing, however.
- Mentle ilnus. I'm not sure how to put it, but this approximates it: I had trouble managing expectations this year. I don't think I'm alone in this, but I think sometimes when you have a taste of success at something your perspective can get skewed and sometimes "do your best, have fun" turns into "business time, have to get the job done". I felt this a bit at the track, a lot in alleycats, and a lot at the end of the cross season. I'm still trying to get my head around dealing with successes when they come.
High points:
- Wheels On Willy, P/1/2/3. The crit I had my worst finish in, the crit that ultimately put my knee out of commission for the rest of the road season, still leaves a strong impression. Turning myself inside out to simply hold onto the back of that pain train was totally worth it because of the streets lined with awesome friends encouraging us to go on.
- VeloCity tour. It's always fun when you win, but it was a great day at the track with a ton of chi/mke friends. Sunburn was not so fun.
- Ore to Shore. Not for race performance, but for fun on a bike. Mexican Hammergel!
- Cyclocross. So much fun, and I did so much better than I expected. A lot of us did really well this year, and I'm super proud of our posse for stepping it up and making cyclocross amazing.
- Riding my bike. Seriously, I had so much fun on a bike this year while not racing. Working out in Cross Plains gave me many, many good training hours out in the hills. Wednesday Night Rides, ThunderJet, and 24MOTAB are the staples for fun times on two wheels.
Next year? I'm looking forward to a better road campaign fueled by decent fitness and better confidence. I want to see about racing a full season of track at Kenosha. More dirt, maybe Ore to Shore, 24-9, try some WORS or WEMS. Cyclocross as usual, I'll have to think about what'll happen there. I haven't sworn off alleycats, but I'm leaning more toward the low-/no budget, no hype, no bullshit smaller ones. I did 40 or 50 races this year, so I probably want to keep that number about the same. I also love having normal-person weekends where I sleep late, eat a leisurely breakfast, go to the farmer's market, drink beer on saturday, etc. It's all about balance.
2 comments:
A fine year indeed, sir! I've never had as much fun on a bike as I did racing with you this year. Although we didn't bang out as many alley cats together, CX and track were a friggin' blast (like Shaft's beer). More of the same in '08, with the addition of a little more dirt, I say. P/1/2 on the road is a crazy, thankless job and I'm done with that shit; let's get to the serious business on the dirt, eh?
bag of hammers!!!!
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