Erik's Spring Cup
No longer at Buck Hill, the first race of the season was held at Harmon Park in Inver Grove. 5 miles of flat, fast singletrack with little room to pass. We had 3 laps plus a prologue to string things out before the singletrack.

I managed to get in the top 10 before the singletrack but still got jammed up behind some riders. Almost all passing was off trail, and the twisty trail forced you to make your moves quickly.

I was top 10 heading into the final lap when I nailed something and got flipped over the bars. No idea what happened. Got up, ran with the bike until I could find a wide enough section to get back on without jamming up the trail. Adrenaline is a powerful drug, because despite the pain and stiffness I had my fastest of the 3 laps. The crash cost me about 2-1/2 minutes and 2-3 places in the standings. I ended up 12th out of 53 in my age group and 33rd out of 180 something overall. Nice turnout. Looking forward to the upcoming races that have some climbing.

Ken Woods Memorial Road Race
45 degrees, steady rain and 25mph winds. A true spring classic.

Having come down with a cold the day before, I wasn't even sure I was going to do this race. I decided to give it a go, in the hopes I could contribute to the team competition. After a 20 minute "warm-up" which did nothing but get me completely soaked we sat at the line for the start. After waiting for about 5 minutes nearly all of us where shivering like crazy. The start comes, and I'm shaking so much I can't even clip in. I finally find my pedal and make my way into the group.

Turn 1 greets us with a massive cross-wind. My bike is swerving so much I think I've got headset issues again, so I fall off the back to make sure my bars aren't about to come off. Turns out it was just the wind. Great. Now I've got to chase to get back on. I pull myself back up to the pack just in time, as the stragglers I was with get dropped for good. Turn 2 provides a 25-30mph tail wind, and the lead group drills it. Much like last week, I'm too far back to react to the surge in time, and get caught in the split. Again, I chase like crazy, taking a big pull. My teammate, Matt, swings around and reaches the group. Sweet. About 2 minutes later I see him on the side of the road with a flat. He's done for the day. I stay with the chase group through turn 3 where again, we encounter the crazy cross-wind. We've got about 10 guys in this group and only 4 of us are willing to form an eschelon. That lasts until the big roller when the wheel suckers come around and attack. Now those of us doing the work get left behind. The three other guys who just got dropped scramble to catch the chase group. I spin out the rest of the roller and prepare for the big climb ahead. Sure enough, once we hit the big one I'm able to pass those guys. I catch an Erik's rider (Mike?) by the church and we trade pulls going into the cross-wind.

By turn 3 I'm feeling much better, and I pull the entire stretch, easing up enough to keep 2 riders with me to help work on the backside of the course. We catch 2 riders up the road, one of whom is my teammate, Andy. Always good to have a teammate. We immediately get a paceline going, taking short but brutal pulls into the driving wind and rain. By this time none of us can feel our feet, but our communal bitching about the conditions is a morale booster nonetheless. We hit the big roller at a sensible pace, saving a little for the final push up Sogn Hill.

We round the corner and begin the climb. I find a good cadence, put my head down and get into a rhythym. The Masters group that passed us about 2 miles back is now only a couple of hundred meters away, so I give it a little more gas and latch on. They pick up the pace, and I struggle to stay on and out of the headwind. I look back to see if someone can come around and pull, but nobody is there, so I keep chugging up the hill to the finish. (see photo, I'm the one on the back)

I don't know where I placed and I don't really care. That was a true death march, and I'm just glad I finished. I began shivering like crazy once I stopped pedalling, and struggled for about 15 minutes to get into some dry clothes. Good times.

Photo courtesy of Skinnyski.com

Durand
Race season is finally here, and man am I not at all ready. Did the 4/5 race at Durand. Decent weather, a little chilly, but not too bad. Hung with the lead group for 2-1/2 laps and then got caught in a bad position going into the climbs on the final lap. I was too far back and couldn't maneuver around all the people that where getting spit off the back. Once I got around I had to chase like crazy to make contact with the lead group again. By the time I got back on I was totally worked. I couldn't recover enough for the climb and that was it for my race. On a better note, we had 6 Birchwood guys in the top 12, including 1st and 2nd. Sweet.