The Big Show

I have to say that I was a little scared heading into Joe Martin, I mean its a huge NRC stage race (215 racers in the Pro1/2 field) and I am new to racing with the top dogs in the sport, but it was all good in the end.


Friday was a 111 mile road race that consisted on rollers and one sustained climb toward the end. It started out fast with guys taking flyers left and right trying to get the pack going and then there I was already at the front chasing the attacks. The pace was high, the average for the day was a little over 26 mph and I could feel it, but I am sure everyone else could too. There was a crash at mile 85 and with the amount of energy I spent in the race to that point put me over the edge and unable to catch up to the lead group of 50 guys or so, my effort for the day had been done so I attached myself to the second group and finished out the day.

Saturday started out early with a 94 mile road race, and once again there I was, at the front. A break went and none of our guys got in it which set off an urgency over the race radio to get to the front. I jumped up to the lead and pulled a ways until Garcia jumped and tried to bridge the gap to the break away. I felt great, there I was pulling with Moninger sitting on my wheel. Unfortunately Garcia didn't make it to the break but the pace was stepped up and the break was caught while I finished off the race in the lead group. Once again a high pace was put out at 27mph.

However the day was far from done, there remained an uphill TT up Devil's Den. A little under 3miles with an average grade of 7%, just enough to make you feel the effort you did that morning. Moninger put the top time in at 8:30 while I finished a little under a minute behind him, I was definitely feeling it in my legs.

Here is a cool pic from velonews.com, the guy sitting second is me.

Sunday was the crit, right at a mile with eight corners and a climb to hurt everyone. We were down to only 120 racers from the original 200, and right from the gun all 120 were single file which made for a hell of a day. Gaps opened up everywhere and after 50 minutes of jumping gaps trying to stay with the lead, I hit the wall. Only 20 racers actually survived to the end. For the overall stage race I finished in the top third. Not to bad for my first race with the big guys and actually doing some work in the race. Next stop Tulsa, OK for a crit series. Check back as I find more pics from the race.