Tour of Larryville

Decided to sit out Saturday's Circuit race up and over KU Campus, and instead decided to kick all possible ass at the crit on Sunday in downtown Lawrence.

The whole fam decided to go with me, and AB raced his first race, a downhill, 300-yard dash.  How no kids fell down, I have no idea.  The age range was probably 3-11, and 150 kids started dashing down Mass Street at the same time.  One little boy got bumped or something, but he was upright and seemed ok.  Here's the action:



My race was decidedly more fast, and no crashes either!  We were driving in pouring rain on the way to Lawrence, but it stopped and dried up for my race and the two races afterwards, then started dumping again.  Jake and Casey from my team both crashed in the Cat 4 race at 3pm, but I think they'll heal up quick.  

Fix your helmet, newb

Looking semi-PRO, although mid pack

As for my race, it was only 20 minutes long so I knew it'd be a flyer since we didn't have any time.  Casey raced in the 5's as well (he is technically a 5), and flew off the front on the 2nd or 3rd lap.  All of the sudden I see him way up there, pedaling slowly as I think he was gassed.  He's strong, just not quite that strong.  He's one of those naturally talented/skinny guys, and once he gets a good racing mind, he'll be super strong.  Colavita has a lot of those guys it seems this year, that are making the jump to Cat 3 and will do well.  Pretty cool to watch everyone progress as racers.



Any way, back to my amateur hour.  Like I said, I knew it'd be a fast race, and I think we averaged a little under 25mph, which is a pretty good clip.  I stayed in the middle of the pack the whole race, then tried to sprint at the end.  I ending up gaining a place or two at the end, which was cool.  I really think that I need to try and get up to the front with 3 laps to go, and then sprint, rather than trying to muscle it out from the middle.  It makes sense in hindsight, but I guess that why we all start out in the 5's.  The fitness levels are all over the place, but the whole point is to learn about racing.  It's more than pedaling around as hard as you can, like cross is.  Cross is way more fun, but the variables are more the elements than they are the other riders.

Cross training season officially begins now, although I've started running too since I'm running the Warrior Dash at the end of July, and the North Face Endurance Challenge in August with my sister.  Hup hup!