Not sure how I would feel going into Bloomer this week, I guess it all worked out OK. I thought for sure that I was getting sick the entire week. Sinus pressure, tired, slight drainage down the back of my throat. So I Zicamed the hell out of what ever it was. In addition, doing the double at Stony last week killed me! it took me 2 days to recover. And even then, all of my workouts during the rest of the week felt really flat. Not a good feeling or sign when I should be in my 2 peak weeks. So here we are at bloomer. 
I woke up and felt good. Which was a relief. I decided not to bring the single speed along and focus on just the B- race. In the points race a few things needed to happen today to secure a top 3 spot overall in the series. 1. Race well and knock off one of my top 5 places in the series with a 1st through 4th place. 2. Beat mark Caffyn. 3. Hope that Jason Boyton did not show up or at least beat him. Well, all 3 happened. so going into the State Championship race I should have 3rd place wrapped up unless I did the math wrong. But enough of that, lets look at the highlights for the day.
It was kind of foggy and cold at the start, which meant that the ground was soggy and slick for every race today. This appeared to help keep the roadies at bay, but the course was still fast overall. Bloomer has been a mixed bag for me over the years, but I really liked the course this year. I think the extra fast single track made a big difference and the tight slippery corners showed who had the best skills out there. As for the race. It was a fast start with Danny Gerow leading out the pack. I was sitting third wheel just hoping Danny would pop. The 2nd place guy soon let up and it was then Danny and me. Soon Clint Verran joined me on the 2nd lap. I hung on as long as I could to try to grow the gap behind me. Then Clint went on to chase Danny. The 2 of them continued to distance themselves from me, but they were never really out of site. By the 2nd lap, I had created a large gap behind me also. I used the flat paved section and the long fast Single track sections to put my attacks in to keep my 3rd place lead. Lap after lap, the gap in front and behind me remained about the same. David Johnson made a move late to get off the front of the small pack of riders behind me, but never got much more than a few seconds out of me. In the end I felt great. The legs felt strong and consistent throughout the race, which is a good sign. And I finished up with another solid 3rd place.
Shout outs -- Congrats to Kevin Skipworth for giving up his race to help out an injured rider. To make the story even better, Kevin was near the front of his race looking for another podium spot when it happened. Great stuff. May Karma be on your side, and good luck next weekend at the Ohio State CX Championships!
JB -- Looking strong in a very stacked field of single speed racers! 1st place on the day. A little more structured training, and you will be a force to recon with once again my man.
Clint and Danny -- Another 1 - 2 punch in the B's
Mike Wissink -- My hat goes off to Mike for pulling out the single speed to have fun after the A-race. First he put on a clinic by passing all the single speeders and Masters 35 field. And second, he showed his respect and sportsmanship by pulling off in the last lap to not interfere with the points series. Mike not only are you a champion, your a real class act!
I woke up and felt good. Which was a relief. I decided not to bring the single speed along and focus on just the B- race. In the points race a few things needed to happen today to secure a top 3 spot overall in the series. 1. Race well and knock off one of my top 5 places in the series with a 1st through 4th place. 2. Beat mark Caffyn. 3. Hope that Jason Boyton did not show up or at least beat him. Well, all 3 happened. so going into the State Championship race I should have 3rd place wrapped up unless I did the math wrong. But enough of that, lets look at the highlights for the day.
It was kind of foggy and cold at the start, which meant that the ground was soggy and slick for every race today. This appeared to help keep the roadies at bay, but the course was still fast overall. Bloomer has been a mixed bag for me over the years, but I really liked the course this year. I think the extra fast single track made a big difference and the tight slippery corners showed who had the best skills out there. As for the race. It was a fast start with Danny Gerow leading out the pack. I was sitting third wheel just hoping Danny would pop. The 2nd place guy soon let up and it was then Danny and me. Soon Clint Verran joined me on the 2nd lap. I hung on as long as I could to try to grow the gap behind me. Then Clint went on to chase Danny. The 2 of them continued to distance themselves from me, but they were never really out of site. By the 2nd lap, I had created a large gap behind me also. I used the flat paved section and the long fast Single track sections to put my attacks in to keep my 3rd place lead. Lap after lap, the gap in front and behind me remained about the same. David Johnson made a move late to get off the front of the small pack of riders behind me, but never got much more than a few seconds out of me. In the end I felt great. The legs felt strong and consistent throughout the race, which is a good sign. And I finished up with another solid 3rd place.
Shout outs -- Congrats to Kevin Skipworth for giving up his race to help out an injured rider. To make the story even better, Kevin was near the front of his race looking for another podium spot when it happened. Great stuff. May Karma be on your side, and good luck next weekend at the Ohio State CX Championships!
JB -- Looking strong in a very stacked field of single speed racers! 1st place on the day. A little more structured training, and you will be a force to recon with once again my man.
Clint and Danny -- Another 1 - 2 punch in the B's
Mike Wissink -- My hat goes off to Mike for pulling out the single speed to have fun after the A-race. First he put on a clinic by passing all the single speeders and Masters 35 field. And second, he showed his respect and sportsmanship by pulling off in the last lap to not interfere with the points series. Mike not only are you a champion, your a real class act!
1 comment:
Way to grind out another good one...time to focus for one more time this year!
Don't eat too much turkey...
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