Photo by: Jeremy. I woke up Sunday morning and could barely lift my right leg.  It was not really a muscle soreness, rather, a pain in my hips.  Nothing really hurt to the touch, but it was when I tried to lift my leg that the pain set in.  I immediately was having doubts about even toeing the line.  I talked with a bunch of people while watching the 3's, masters and elite women race and got all sorts of opinions.  The most valuable came from Page's mechanic Frankie.  He said something to the effect of, "if you don't race, as soon as you see the guys come around, you'll regret it."  And so it was, I went out to start my warm up.

The second day always seems to be more "business as usual", as Josh put it.  You have already battled against everyone in the line up.  You have already slaved over the course for an hour.  You have a pretty good idea of how you will perform.  Adding on top of this, feeling like total garbage and I was not expecting much from myself.  It did not hurt to pedal, but anytime I was going to be out of the saddle or running, I knew I would be in pain.  Spent a few minute warming up with Conant on the road before coming back to the course for a couple laps.  Well, it was one and a half before I hear Julie yelling for me that staging was about to start.  Got down to the line just in time and it was on.

My start was slow.  I just did not have any punch on the pedals and to top it off I did not get clipped in right away.  I fought off a few guys and made a couple smart moves to move myself back to mid-pack through the first couple turns.  I did everything I could to hold on through the first lap.  Stuck with a couple guys that I knew I could ride with and tried to settle in.

Pushing into the second lap I was having trouble keeping my front wheel under me.  What seemed like good tire pressure in the pre-ride was a little too low at the higher speeds.  Coming past the pit during the second lap I shouted to Julie that I needed more pressure.  So through the finish line into the third lap I was setting myself up in the group near the front so that I could catch the tail end of the group on my way out of the pit.  It went smoother than silk.  I dismounted right before the entrance of the pit and ran into a perfect exchange.  I was so happy.  Out and back into the group almost without effort.

Plugging away I was riding with my coach, Brian, at this point.  Kind of cool because I knew the pace he was setting was within my capacity, yet not slow.  The problem was that with every lap, and every run-up my hip screamed at me louder and louder.  Not to mention this was going to be the 5th of 12 laps and I could tell the leaders were already making their way around the course.  I did my best to keep the game face on and stay on pace.

With two or three to go, I lost the couple guys I was riding with.  Now I was battling against being lapped traffic.  I pushed, but not hard enough.  After coming across the finish with two to go, my fate was intimate and I started trying to position myself on the course just not to get in the way.  As Page and Wells came around me, I pushed to follow them as long as possible and watch how their lines differed from mine.  It was fairly enlightening, but nothing out of the ordinary.

I crossed the line, being nipped on the line by someone else, even though we were not supposed to be crossing the line in the first place at 22nd.  I was disappointed in myself for being lapped and just rolled down to the car.  After sitting in the shade for a few minutes and getting some water back in me, I started feeling better about the race.  I can not expect to be at 100% all the time and this race just wasn't in the cards.  I went and said goodbye to Molly and in the process met one of the two contributors to Belgian Knee Warmers, crazy!  Again, the number of people shouting for me on the course is staggering.  That was as home town and things could get and it was awesome.  Thanks to Renee and everyone else that helped out with the event and the course.  And the party put on at the D*Pow residence was a perfect night cap.  A few power sips of the high life, a bonfire, country AND western and fireworks all combined for a perfect retreat before hitting the sack.

Thank you Wisconsin.

Photo by: Amanda.  Whirlwind.  After Vegas, I spent about 11 hours at home.  Greg, Julie, Amanda and I left the western burbs after work to try to save a little time driving to Madison.  Somehow though, it still took us five hours to get there.  Dennys did not help and neither did the expressway being closed near Edgerton.  We made it up to the hotel in time for a little hot tub action and then a good sleep.  We woke up, made quick a quick time of breakfast, and drove to take a look at the course.  The initial ride was bumpy and twisty.  The course was going to hurt.  We went back to the hotel for a little bit for some rest and stretching, before stopping for Pro pancakes and getting back to see the end of the masters race, where Kevin was killing the field.

Molly and I went out for a quick warm up on the road before a last few laps.  It was nice to get to chat for a little while.   I am really enjoying meeting so many racers from around the country.  I got a pretty good spot on the line this weekend being the first rider called up after the UCI point holders were called.  The start was just as fast as Vegas and almost more aggressive.  As the course narrowed down we were fighting for position tooth and nail.

From there the race was pretty uneventful.  I started 18th, in the third row and maintained that position pretty well.  I had a hard time working though the group from the gun so I had to work a little harder to stick it out.  The course was super dry and almost every corner was washed out.  So, to maintain the fast pace, we had to be up and on the pedals pushing hard out of every corner.  The second half of the course was hilly and full of tight switched back turns on the hill.  There was not any part of the course we could rest on.  This isn't to say it was not a fantastic course and I haven't taken likely going around saying it is probably one of the hardest I have ever ridden.

Overall, the race was fast and clean.  Well, I was pretty dirty at the end, but I raced well.  I did not pop at the end and was able to push through the last two laps so as not to get lapped.  Still trying to maintain consistency.  I only fell once on one of those downhill switch backed corners, but what was the most fantastic is that it seemed like everyone on the course was out cheering for me.  It was more people than I can list, but I am pretty confident that, if you were there, you were cheering for me.  Thank you, it was awesome.

I am almost going to pray for rain tonight, but reguardless tomorrow will be fun.  Five days of racing in eight days is starting to take its' toll.  I am looking forward to a week off, making breakfast at home and reading the paper.

Photo by: Kurt Jambretz Leaving the convention center I had a strange feeling that I had just missed a golden opportunity at Interbike.  I felt like I had not made the most of the time spent there.  In reality, I had hunted down my Rock Lobster teammates at the Ibis and Bell booths to introduce myself.  I stopped and saw Chris at the World Bicycle Relief booth.  Took an up close and personal look at the Ellsworth tandem.  Phil Wood outboard bottom bracket.  The new tools Park will be offering.  Belt Drive at Spot.  Quite a bit of other eye candy as well (pictures on flickr tomorrow).  We talked with Jerimiah Bishop for a minute.  Thanked a few sponsors.  Still, as we walked to find lunch, knowing we would not be back until next year, I felt that there had been an important stone left unturned.  The truth was, this isn’t why I was there.

Julie and I caught a cab back to the hotel after polishing off lunch with Spud so that I could put my feet up for a little while before heading to the venue.  The close of registration came amazingly quickly.  While Julie and I were trying to get out the door, Dan walked in practically missing a toe.  He obviously wasn’t making it to the venue with us.  We got there in the nick of time so that I could register and pick up my numbers.  Being a UCI race, they were staging according to UCI ranking and then the order of registration.  Since they never really published the registration order, I was afraid that I would be starting way in the back of the 100+ rider pack.  A repeat of nationals.  Well, I was relieved to help the registration woman page through the list of riders, from the back, to find myself on the second page with the starting number of 43.

Julie got everything ready out of the car and met me with a bike so I could get out on the course for a pre-ride before the Pro women race.  The course was actually far from what I was expecting.  Yes, it was mowed grass, but the course was far from flat.  And at almost a mile and a half, it was longer than I expected as well.  The grass was not even typical grass.  It seemed to change in consistency, where in some places it was really short and thin, so basically like riding on hard pack.  In other places it was longer and softer, making riding across it strange, the bike almost wanted to float across it and shift from side to side.

Pro women finished, and I went out on a few more laps where I got to ride with a few pretty fast racers and chat.  Adam Craig, Adam McGrath, both super nice.  I got my crash out of the way early after stopping at the pit for a drink.  Pulling away a couple guys asked for a wheelie and I was more than happy to oblige.  I got the front end about a foot or so off the ground before I remembered I was clipped in and it was too late.  The front wheel was making its’ move and before I knew it, in front of hundreds of people, looped out and fell flat on my back.  Everyone went crazy.  And then, before I knew it, they started the call ups.  The amusing thing about these call ups was that Lance Armstrong did show up and there was a media frenzy surrounding him.  So while Page, Trebon, Johnson and the other top twenty super fast cross racers were called up, no one seemed to take any notice as they had to push around the Armstrong media blitz.  38 racers later, lance got his call up and after number 40 was called, we all rushed the line.

Standing in the fourth row, not bad.  Pulled in towards the left fence, instructions were given.  Fifteen second to start.  The gun.  We were flying.  And I was off the line ahead of Lance.  At the end of the lead out, we made a right turn to complete one parade lap before we all rocketed onto the course.  The start was fast and aggressive.  Riders wanting and keeping the line, pushing, shoulders, elbows.  A pure UCI start!  Through the barriers, up the run up, down and around; still with Lance, the crowd was insane.  There were so many people and they were everywhere.

I hung with that group in the low 30’s for the first few laps.  The leaders were already pulling away, but I felt strong and settled in to ride with the group of five or six riders that I was with.  It stayed pretty uneventful. Working with guys, trading pulls, we were maintaining our position pretty well.  Then with about five laps to go a few of the guys were able to gap me pretty well on the climb so our group dwindled.  

I was listening to the announcer and it seemed that the leaders had about half of a lap on me and I could hear that the race was super competitive amongst them.  I was almost positive that I was going to get pulled with one or two to go, so that lapped riders would not interfere with the finish.  So I remembered something Paul had told me when he visited Chicago.  That he was not concerned with me winning these races as much as he wanted me to be the guy who crossed the finish line with a huge smile.

So, I started giving people high fives as I rode through the course.  The finish straight and the areas surrounding the run up were packed with people.  So as I rode through the course I’d ride along and give five to anyone who’d open their hand to me.  This was also about the time I realized that what people were handing out were singles.  I started grabbing those too.  The funny thing was that I was not keeping on the wheel of the racers in front of me, but when I would ride through the finishing straight I was actually making up time on them.  Even on the run up, I started shouldering my bike to high five people, trampling photographers in the process.  And then slowing down to make sure I could grab the five spot and two singles the pony shop guys (or at least I thought it was the pony shop guys) had held out.

The race was blistering fast, but super fun.  That will be the fastest race of the year, and somehow I managed to start the race and finish the race in 43rd place.  Had I not been screwing around I probably would have been able to finish on the lap with the leaders and a few spots higher, but I was out of the money and the points at that point, so I thought it would be more fun to show my appreciation for the crowd support. Plus I made $8.  It was so much fun, I can’t even explain it really, the crowd, the atmosphere, the racers, the hype, the amazingly high number of people who knew my name.  As much as I did not like Vegas, I will probably be trying to return to the race next year.  And holy shit, I am the first picture in Velonews' slideshow!

The second day started just the same as the first.  Julie and I brought Aspen and Devon to the course, I walked around for a bit (not much had changed), we went back to the hotel and on the way stopped at Big Boy for breakfast.  I was less nervous, but still not completely calm.

Back at the course I took a handful of warm up laps.  One half of the course was left almost completely unchanged, while the other half turned from wide open and fast to wide open and twisting.  It is strange to have sections of a race course that are ten to twelve feet wide, yet there really is only one good line through it.  Because much of this course went through a field that usually was used as a camp ground, many of the turns either had sections of loose gravel, right before, in or after them.  So, I was picturing the race stringing out again very fast.

As it goes, we were lining up before I knew it.  I was hoping for a better starting position, but ended up in the third row again.  This time though, I was the first to be called into the row, so I took one of the outside lanes, behind Brian hoping to get around some people right away.  On the whistle I was not gaining position, but I was not really loosing it either.  I'd be told later that Page threw down off the line and that is why the field exploded.  Unlike Saturday, after the first short bit there were not any big groups, only little ones of three or four racers.  The one thing I do notice though about these races over the local series races is when someone goes down, they go down hard.  I watched a rider in front of me fall in the barriers and he got practically ran over by some of the group that is immediately around him.  Note to self: do not fall over during the first lap.

Remembering Brian's advice, I tried this time to settle in and race at my own fast pace in an attempt not to blow up.  And that is what I did.  For the majority of the race, I was in a group of a few guys, but I always seemed to pop them off through a few different sections of the course.  So, I made sure to push it through those few sections.  But, then there were also a couple corners that I could not take clean for the life of me.  With two laps to go I came down a short hill, immediately after the run up, into a tight left hander right before the pit and was headed straight through the tape.  In the smoothest way possible I jumped off my bike and over the tape in order not to wrap myself up in it.  I lost my group, but did so with a smile.  On the next lap, when I came through I proclaimed with satisfaction to the pit that I "took that corner clean for once." 

With just more than one lap to go I was caught by another rider, who was pretty content with sitting on my wheel, so I prepped myself to drop him.  After the barriers, the course became twisty and offered little good passing room, so I made it a point to drive through the barriers as fast as I could and create a gap.  It worked.  Rolled across the line alone and in 15th.  A clean fast race.

With a little bit of down time in the car I came to realize I was really happy with the weekend.  Yeah, I didn't get any points, and a couple guys I'd like to have been competitive with were a good way ahead of me, but this was really only my fourth weekend racing at this level.  To finish solidly in the top twenty is good and staying on the lead lap has to say something.  I handled the bike well and I kept smiling.  I received more compliments on my bikes that I could have imagined.  It is awesome to be racing on hand made frames.  They stand out for sure.  This was my first time racing on Challenge Grifos and they rode just as well as the Dugast tires did last year.  Everything else is top notch.

The one thing that was beyond my possible imagination was the level of support Julie provided to me this weekend (she gives a pretty good explanation in her blog).  She built my bikes, which had zero issues all weekend, so her time in the pit was not super busy.  No issues there.  But pre and post race were another story.  If I needed a bottle, she had it.  If I was forgetting to stretch, I had a reminder.  She knew race times, directions and to stop and grab my payout.  She drove 4/5 of the way home.  When I was wandering around aimlessly after the race, collecting myself, she was already packing the car.  She is just as big of a part of these races as I was.  I can't thank her enough.  It is Monday afternoon and I am already packing for Vegas, I am pumped.