Well I took the plunge already, I moved up to Expert for the Fort Custer Stampede. I called my coach Mike Schultz and we had a talk about what category I should be racing. After talking about what would be best and we came to the conclusion that I should be racing the longest races I can to prepare for the 100 mile races.
I may not be as competitive in Expert as I would be in Sport, but the extra mileage will be good for me. I also got a lot of grief from my training partner Mark Boese for not racing Expert too, oh the peer pressure. So the night before the race I stopped by Custer Cyclery to ask Dan Stewart if he know how to get a hold of Cathy Needham. He called Cathy for me and got me moved me from Sport to Expert.
I pre-rode the coarse on Saturday the best I could, it wasn't marked yet when I rode it, but since it's my home track I wasn't too concerned.
I got up Sunday morning and my wife made me some eggs and rice for breakfast. This was all I ate besides the few cups of coffee that I drank too.
I got to the race sit and set up my easy-up in team row. I arranged for a spot for my team - Cannondale Midwest Racing with the promoter a few days earlier. I was there about 2 hours before the race and really had too much time on my hands before I had to get to the starting line.
10:00 am was the start time for the Elite/Expert Categories. I waited my time until our group was called to the starting line. As the starter said go, I had a hard time clipping into my pedals and got off to a slow start. I was next to last going into the single track. I guess I was in no hurry to get the party started. I got into a good pace and kept the majority of my field in sight.
It was just one long pace-line for the first 3 miles, that was until we got to Granny's Garden. This is where 2 assholes from the group behind decided they needed to pass in the tightest most technical part of the coarse. They cut me off on the inside of a turn which went down into a gully and then made a quick right hand turn with a quick uphill. The 2 a-holes didn't even make it up the climb and caused everyone behind them to get off their bikes. While I was off my bike my left pedal got stuck in another guys spokes... Thanks A-Holes (The A-Holes wore black and grey kits, not sure what team they are).
The rest of the race went pretty good, I worked my heart rate up just under my threshold and kept it there the whole race. I worked hard and kept my lap times within 3 minutes of each other. I ended up with a total time of 2:07:38 for about 27 miles, 17 minutes behind the leaders. I ended up 22nd in my age group. I passed about 10 guys and got clipped at the finish line by 1/10 of a second for 21st.
I am glad I moved up and found out that I can at least keep up with these guys and not totally embarrass myself. I guess I'll be racing Expert from here on out.
I may not be as competitive in Expert as I would be in Sport, but the extra mileage will be good for me. I also got a lot of grief from my training partner Mark Boese for not racing Expert too, oh the peer pressure. So the night before the race I stopped by Custer Cyclery to ask Dan Stewart if he know how to get a hold of Cathy Needham. He called Cathy for me and got me moved me from Sport to Expert.
I pre-rode the coarse on Saturday the best I could, it wasn't marked yet when I rode it, but since it's my home track I wasn't too concerned.
I got up Sunday morning and my wife made me some eggs and rice for breakfast. This was all I ate besides the few cups of coffee that I drank too.
I got to the race sit and set up my easy-up in team row. I arranged for a spot for my team - Cannondale Midwest Racing with the promoter a few days earlier. I was there about 2 hours before the race and really had too much time on my hands before I had to get to the starting line.
10:00 am was the start time for the Elite/Expert Categories. I waited my time until our group was called to the starting line. As the starter said go, I had a hard time clipping into my pedals and got off to a slow start. I was next to last going into the single track. I guess I was in no hurry to get the party started. I got into a good pace and kept the majority of my field in sight.
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| Expert Men 40-49 at the Fort Custer Stampede |
The rest of the race went pretty good, I worked my heart rate up just under my threshold and kept it there the whole race. I worked hard and kept my lap times within 3 minutes of each other. I ended up with a total time of 2:07:38 for about 27 miles, 17 minutes behind the leaders. I ended up 22nd in my age group. I passed about 10 guys and got clipped at the finish line by 1/10 of a second for 21st.
I am glad I moved up and found out that I can at least keep up with these guys and not totally embarrass myself. I guess I'll be racing Expert from here on out.
Best of luck bro- it sounds like you're doing it the smart way ( with everyone behind you:)) Congratulations on the self promo
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