Monday, August 20, 2012

Regulating in Millersburg


So my most recent mental training objective has been "emotional regulation."  I'm supposed to leave my fears aside and just race with my legs and brain.  This is hard when you have the emotional capacity of a 2-year-old, but I came to Tour de Millersburg feeling thinking that I was pretty well regulated.  The problem turned out to be that my sprint could use a little less Gramm-Leach-Bliley and a little more Warren G.

The time trial was a 10-mile flat course.  I passed 5 people and took 2nd place, with teammate Jenny taking 5th.  Although the GC was based on points rather than time, the leader's 34-second cushion suggested that it would take some serious teamwork to race with the strong riders of ABRT.  The team rolled back to the hotel to discuss the plan.

With our GC standings to protect, Kace Dogg and Jenny I. had to regulate on the technical crit course.  Jenny attacked with me on her wheel, while Jenn and Emily worked to control the pace in the pack.  We got away with two other riders, including the GC leader.  The leader attacked on the final lap, taking the win, and Jenny and I took 2nd and 3rd. 

The 54-mile road race was mostly flat with a few tight corners.  The slow first lap kept the pack messy, and I was on a mission trying to find Ms. Jenny I.  I fought my way to her wheel just in time for us to get away in a break of 6.  As we rolled into town for the last time, the GC leader attacked, with 2 of us along with her.  After the finish I was relegated to 2nd place for irregular sprinting.  Luckily, our team has some talented riders to help me work on this, including Emily, who arrived with the main field and took the sprint!

In spite of my screw-up, the race was great for the team.  I was 2nd in the GC and Jenny 4th, and the team taught me a lot about working together and racing aggressively.

1 comment:

  1. Straight up gangster results. I do enjoy the photo but I think this post could use the fresh beats http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1plPyJdXKIY

    ReplyDelete