This past weekend Tony and I took a trip down to the St. Louis
to race in the Tour of St Louis. The main goal was to see where our fitness
level was. The race consisted of an 11 mile TT and 2 crits over the weekend.
The TT was on a winding road with a gradual up along the
entire way out. It made for a really nice ride. Tony did well placing in the
middle of the pack. I didn’t do so well coming in the back end of the group. The
fastest time was around 26 min and the slowest was 33 min.
Crit 1 was located in Forest Park located just west of St.
Louis. The course was fantastic! it was wide open with no technical turns. It did
make for some fast racing with a 25+ mph avg. I was doing fine hanging out mid
pack trying to stay out of the wind. Tony was sitting just ahead of me. The
pace started fast at 26+ mph for the first 8 laps or so then we backed off a
bit. That’s when I got complacent and rolled to the back of the field. Not
paying attention, I let too much of a gap form and there was an acceleration.
Like an idiot I didn’t close it down, so I was kind of upset with myself. I just
rode around till the pack came back and jumped on the back. It was a long way
to go not to keep riding. I was really mad at myself for making such a huge
mistake. The only thing positive for me was the status of my fitness. I am very
satisfied where I stand for now and look forward to having some good results
later this year.
Crit 2? All I can say is to remember to read the race flyer.
I showed up to the line 2 min late. NOT good.
