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Last Saturday (July 24th) I raced the Lost River Cycling Classic in West Virginia. It was the hilliest race I’ve done this year, and it went well. The temperatures were well above 100 in DC, but only high 90s at the race, plus it was shaded. The 3/4 race did about three and a half laps of the 10.5 mile course. The course was dominated by 2 climbs, one long steady climb with a little kick right before the finish – followed by a long and windy, though not technical, descent – and another “stairstep” climb that wasn’t quite as long (good elevation profiles at this race report) The first couple laps were pretty steady; there was plenty of attrition from going over the hills, but it didn’t feel all that jumpy. Just a steady race pace. The first time down the decent I struggled, but I got the hang of it after that. On the last lap, shortly after the descent, my teammate Tom attacked and went off on his own. The pack chased in fits and starts. We would hammer for a few, then go really really slow while people recovered. We never caught Tom. I hung on until shortly after the stairstep climb, but I couldn’t match the accelerations on the rollers, and the pack rolled away from me. I settled into a groove, and finished the race at my own pace. I passed several people on the final climb, and ended up 15th out of 75, in a 3/4 race, which I was plenty happy with.

I took the day off Sunday,  rode Tuesday morning, and raced Greenbelt on Wednesday. At Greenbelt I got pushed back a few times by some dumb people in front of me, but stayed with the pack. I finished at the back, and ended up kind of demoralized. My heart just wasn’t in it. Racing and riding so often is tough, and I was getting burned out. I needed a break. I didn’t touch my bike – to train or commute – Thursday or Friday. Saturday I did a small little group right, and today I helped Matt and Ellie pack up their moving fan, and skipped the ride. Taking it “easy” the past few days has helped, but I think I’m still just pushing away the inevitable. I’m racing Saturday, the Page Valley Road Race. It’s a Cat 4 hilly road race, which means I could do well. So I’m just trying to stave off the tired-and-done-with-it feelings until Saturday afternoon. Then I’m hitting the ice cream.

Saturday I went to a Boote going-away-party at Meridian Hill Park, and toss the frisbee and ate pizza. This afternoon I hit balls at the driving range with Mike, played a little Starcraft, and then watched Pro Golf (it’s not that bad) for awhile. I’m looking forward to more of the same, plus a long visit from Clara. August should be a good month.

Saturday I raced the 3/4 Giro di Coppi road race. I went into it with ambitions of both helping someone on my team do really well, and doing fairly well myself. It is a decently hilly course, the first of the like that I’ve done this year. I wish I could tell a better story – I’m always impressed by how much other people remember of their races. I remember Saturday in three stages. Before, during, and after the pain. We did 4 laps of a 12.5 mile loop. One large hill shortly after the start, a right turn onto a steady flat stretch, going into a fast downhill right turn, followed by a series of substantial rollers. The first two laps were fairly uneventful. I stayed towards the front for the most part, and didn’t have a difficult time moving around. This was before the pain.  On the 3rd lap, going up the first hill, me and a teammate both took a turn at the front towards the end to keep the pace going up the hill. No big deal. It felt good to be doing something. I slid back to 20th wheel or so coming out of the turn and hung out there for a bit. A little while  later on that same stretch of road I moved up along the side and hung out 2nd, 3rd, or 4th wheel, also with a teammate, just keeping an eye on things.

We took the downhill turn, and started on the rollers for a third time. A couple of my teammates (both 3′s) decided, along with a few other guys, it was time to go, and the pace picked up. I tried, but I got spat out the back in short order. I kept on pedaling, but my legs were killing me. Fortunately, I had some friendly supporters in the wheel car, who heckled me. Heckled and heckled, and encouraged me to get back on. After ignoring their initial noise, I stood up and dove into it. First I passed the last wheel car in the line, then the 2nd to last, then I slowly ambled on past the moto ref (who was giving people a hard time for riding on the yellow line). It felt good to sit on the back of the pack again. I moved up a few spots here or there, but I could tell if they accelerated again I would be toast. My legs were no longer on fire, but it felt like I had a couple 5-lb weights strapped to the top of my quads. We finished the 3rd lap, made it up the hill without incident, and eventually back to the rollers again, where I got dropped one more time. And AGAIN my buddies in the wheel car yelled and heckled at me, until I caught back on. And catch back on I did. For about 5 minutes, then (as it was within a few miles of the finish) they accelerated one more time, and I was done for. I finished the race alone, and those little bumps before the finish which previously seemed so inconsequential might as well have been L’Alpe d’Huez. I shifted down to my little ring for the first time, unzipped my jersey, and kept turning the pedals. I passed a few dropped riders, heard (but could not acknowledge) encouragement from teammates on the side of the road, and climbed up the last 100 ft climb towards the finish out of the saddle. I ended up finishing 28th. Regardless of the result, it was a fantastic race. I was completely exhausted, but I knew I turned myself inside out to do as well as I did. Sunday morning I had that fantastic feeling of complete exhaustion, knowing it was caused by something special.

race data at garmin connect

I spent the first 5 hours of the day riding out to the Giro di Coppi course and doing a practice lap, in preparation for the race next Saturday. It ended up being a pretty epic 85 mile ride. Hopefully the race will be just as fun.

Post-ride I watched the Capital Criterium with Mike. It was a fun race to watch, with a lot of the domestic pro’s throwing down on a central-DC race course, with some pretty great views. None of the teams had a lot going on; it didn’t feel like anyone really had a plan for the race. A Bahati Foundation and Jamis Sutter Home rider went off the front with about 3 laps to go, and stuck it out. The Jamis guy won the sprint, and his teammate won the field sprint.

The finishing stretch, with view of Capitol

Haymarket digging deep

Afterwards we tried to find a convenient bar to watch the world cup at, which proved to be sort of difficult. Every place on  7th st near Chinatown was full, not letting anyone else in. Including the spanish tapas places. We ended up walking over to capital city brewing co.; standing room only but good tv’s. We ambled on over to Cure bar & bistro for a place sit when it went into overtime, which worked out pretty well.

Saturday I did the 10am gate ride, for the first time in a year or so. It is generally a pretty fast ride, and I struggle to not get drop. Saturday, it was miserably hot, but I hung on and did not get dropped, and made some sort of “selection” of 10 or so guys. Not sure how many started, because it was slow getting going. It was about 60 miles in the heat; rolling, but no hills that were too bad. It gave me confidence that my speed is coming along.

Sunday I did the Coppi team ride, which leaves from Rock Creek Park at 9:00 (they actually leave from Arlington earlier, but I’m not going all the way down there). Again, a hard ride, and hot. But I hung on with the faster guys, and got a good workout in. I was the only (ONLY) one to go down the hill at Great Falls. That kind of disappointed me. A little competition on the way up makes it much more fun. Wimps. Oh well.

I raced last Wednesday’s Greenbelt race, and had a good time. I felt pretty comfortable, and was able to chase down some attacks and go off on one of my own. It was not meant to be though. I cruised in for 12th. My problem is, although I’m getting stronger, I still have no sprint. Oh well. There was somebody there taking pictures and he got this good one of me, so I consider it a success. Maybe this Wednesday I’ll try a different strategy, and crack the top 10.

I went home to Deerfield this past weekend to help Clara and Peter celebrate their graduation. I left work early Thursday, flying out of DC and heading straight to Evanston. I stopped in briefly at the honors night reception, and heard all about how Peter did a fantastic job MC’ing event (along with Meixi Ng). After filling up on cookies, I left my family and met up with Clara and her family, and we went to one last dinner at Koi (Clara’s favorite restaurant). Spicy.

Friday was a little more relaxed; took care of some errands in the morning, went to some more receptions for Peter in the afternoon, got caught in a rain storm, then went to the all-school commencement at Ryan Field. Yeah, caught in a rain storm. It only lasted about 20 minutes, but man did it pour. Fortunately President Shapiro had the foresight to know that the storm would be soon gone, so graduation still happened at Ryan Field, outside. After the initial speaker bailed at the last minute, alumnus and member of Northwestern’s Board of Trustee’s Michael Wilbon (of ESPN) gave the commencement address. After that my family went to dinner at Ted’s for some bison burgers, and met up with my grandparents.

Northwestern Commencement 2010

Saturday was the long day. I got up early to get to Clara’s 8:30 McCormick graduation. It was small, and nothing too exciting, beyond seeing Clara walk across the stage with a giant smile on her face. It must feel good to be done with 5 years at Northwestern! I stayed for Peter’s Weinberg graduation immediately following. Much longer, hotter, and more crowded. Northwestern Professor Steven Harper gave a great commencement address. After that we took a brief break, then headed to Maggiano’s for a graduation celebration. Great dinner (with a fantastic eggplant parmesan and a sundae bar) and good company. After that, I went home to help my mom start cooking for Sunday’s brunch at our house.

Big smiles at McCormick's graduation

The afterparty at Maggiano's

Sunday morning was a lot of hustle and bustle as we got ready for about 30 people to decent on our house and eat our food. I made a few spinach quiche’s, my mom made an amazing fennel & leek thing, and my dad cooked up some quality sausages on the grill. We followed it up with a little badminton in the backyard, the perfect conclusion to a long weekend. I drove Clara and her family back to Evanston, and Monday morning I hopped on a plane back to DC.

A few more pictures at my flickr site, here

I spent last weekend at home in Deerfield for Peter and Clara’s Northwestern graduation (about time!). I came home early monday morning and am apparently still recovering from that. For whatever reason, I’m exhausted, especially after tonight’s Greenbelt race. Expect details Thursday.

This new sign seemed sort of odd. They repaved the crosswalk over the regional (MARC) train tracks, and now apparently it is only for train passengers. Can they even do that? I guess not, since I used it.

For what it’s worth, the Metro station is nearby, and you can cross under the tracks through the Metro station. But why make a crosswalk user-specific?