After a brutal week at school, wrapping up exams and homework assignments before the break, we left this morning for another 3 days of racing. This weekend is the 25th Madera County Stage Race. Today's stage was a 10.2 mile time trial that involved hills. The drive down was nice. I slept most of the way, and we made our way to the starting area somewhere near Madera. Upon arrival we rode the course. I realized how this time trial was not going to be easy. The roads were rolling, some parts pretty beat up (from mile 5-8) and it was an uphill from mile 6-9. After riding the course Dave decided not to use his TT gear, and Jeff decided to switch to his 58's. I had the chance to borrow his 80's. I figured why not, they are awesome wheels and if anything I'll at least feel faster :) The funny thing was, the kid who started behind me eventually caught up with me and would start passing me on the uphills, and I'd motor past him on the flats and downhills. That happened for a great deal of the race until he managed to pass me after about a mile of climbing up the main hill. I didn't race that well today. After finishing at the top, having been passed by way too many riders (who had started at 1 minute intervals), I had the sinking feeling I'd literally be one of the slowest riders in the P/1/2 today. I'm looking forward to the criterium tomorrow. I need to work on my time trialling before I'll start "liking" TT's. I do realize that TT's are supposed to be hard, but I don't have the technique down yet. I haven't done enough of them to know my rhythm or pacing of efforts. Anyways, on the bright side, the race today was in one of the most scenic areas I've seen lately. The water flowing from the hills, green grass everywhere, nice cool looking trees contrasted with blue skies filled with clouds. Yea, that was enjoyable on the way back and when we pre rode the course. It would have made for some cool pictures. Oh well, I'm here to race this weekend.
Enough said about the race. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's crit. Gotta get the OTHER time trial out of the way first. Dang it, why can't we be done with all these time trials! Maybe the highlight of my day would be the hotel we're staying at. The Hampton Inn! It's so legit! The beds are super comfy and the bathroom is fancy, just like the rest of the room! The paint job has matching color schemes, the photos on the wall are poster sized and framed, quite nice! The shower felt good, my legs don't feel "good", but I think my racing legs will show up eventually. They better, because it seems like from here on out I'll be racing just about every weekend for a while.
This is what the area looks like. This was across the way from our parking lot.
The blue skies I was talking about earlier.
P/1/2 parking. You can tell by the cars (inside joke)
More of the scenery in the area. (on our way back into town)
Helping us not get lost..
We pre-drove Sunday's course. A few cool views along the way.
The roads will make it an interesting race Sunday
One of these hills is the finish line..
Some very cool scenery along the way!
and now at the Hampton! Where we rest for the remainder of the day.
My bed!
And, the color matching walls I was also mentioning earlier.
And, where I am and will be staying for the rest of the day. (: The best part of the day!
Pros for today:
I got to ride my bike
The weather was decent (despite the wind)
It's almost Spring time!
It's the weekend
I get to spend the day (and entire weekend) with awesome teammates
The hotel has internet and it's really fancy!
Cons for today:
There were hills on the course, lots of them..
There was wind, lots of it.
There was a bad earthquake in Japan, and lots of damage!
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