Wednesday, April 22, 2009

The Tour of Hermann

I rode in the Road Race on Sunday at The Tour of Hermann. It was raining so hard, you couldn't see a thing. It was cold and the course was 30 miles up-hill. I held on to the pack for the first two climbs and let them go on the second down-hill. The rooster tails of spray water from every ones tires were about twenty feet. It seemed like it was raining from every direction. I thought the safe thing to do would be to fall back. I felt like I got into a great hill-climbing rhythm at about the half-way point. I pretty much rode by myself in the rain and cold for twenty five miles. I finished 28th out of 54. Maybe, in good conditions, I would have done a little better. I was not ready for the hills.

It was a great weekend with 5 other teammates. The other guys raced a Time Trial (10 miles) Saturday morning. Then they did a Crit Saturday night.

The Crit was a 1.2 mile loop with a killer hill (I mean killer) up to the start/finish line every lap. More of a circuit race really.

About 300 people raced The Tour of Hermann. I might be back next year.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Tilles Park Crit

The forecast was a high of 48 degrees and thunderstorms. When I got up Sunday morning it hadn't started raining yet. By the time I started loading the bikes on the carrier, it was raining pretty good.

Tilles Park is in Ladue, MO. Only about 45 minutes away. When we arrived, it had just stopped raining. We picked-up our registration packets and started getting ready.

I was in the earliest race with Patrick and Dan from our team. I think it started about 10am. The road was one lane narrow and very wet. Our race was to be 20 minutes and 4 laps. About 12 minutes into the race, I was trying to pass on the outside, when I heard someone clip a pedal on the inner curb. Four riders shot, slid and skidded across the road and took me out.

I really got side-swiped! I held onto what was left of my bike. The computer, water bottle and front wheel were out in the middle of the road. A photographer and two guys from my team came over and helped me gather everything. I put it back together and jumped back into the race.

My front shifter cable was crimped and the computer wasn't working. I worked my way back to the front and even led for a few laps. I didn't know how much time was left in the race so I settled back into the pack. When I came around the next lap, I saw the 20 minute sign up. I had 4 laps to go all out, but I was completely boxed in. I couldn't get around anyone. Finally, with one lap to go, I passed the group, but the front runners had taken off. I could see all ten of them about 100 yards in front of me. I sprinted the last quarter lap and finished 11th.

Patrick finished 10th. I grabbed his arm as we crossed the finish line to congratulate him. It scared him, he didn't realize anyone was that close to him. I'm surprised we didn't crash right then.

Our team was at the front of every race that day. We all led for a few laps and did very well. The road dried out, but there were crashes in every race. By the last race, around 4pm, the weather was getting nasty.

This weekend is "The Tour of Hermann." 4/18 and 4/19/2009.