"Race" season

I guess this is it.

Swag season!

My race season is here... or what I'll be salvaging of it at least. I had really hoped that I'd get a little bit more out of the year, but as it turns out you can't come back quite as fast as my ego had led me to believe! Not to say that anything is problematic in training, just that I can't put watts onto my FTP with reckless abandon like I had expected wanted wished. So there won't be any big races for me in 2015, but honestly that's almost a relief. No expectations to live up to.

Saturday was Tour de Rocky Top, in which I usually do the 100 (or more...) mile ride/race. This year I only stuck it out for the 50 miler and I have to say, it was fun. Just long enough for me to feel like I was getting a workout in without the grueling final push back home those last few miles of a century.

Getting ready for the rollout on a gloomy but fun day

Last night (mainly the reason for the day late post) I went back to crit racing after a few years not touching the road racing scene. It was short and sweet(ish) as C group crits go... I sat in the first couple of laps just trying to get a feel for it again and eventually bridged up to another (stronger) guy who was sitting a little off the front. I sprinted out for the Prime lap (new bottle cage) and then we basically rode together the rest of the race. We were eventually passed by another guy who just had the turbo's going and I missed the move in the last corner and got gapped in the wrong gear for the sprint, finishing a comfortable third. (Seems like the only place I finish now) I tried to cool catch my breath and jump into the B race, but I was toasted and pretty much yo-yo'd the first two laps until finally just dropping off and calling it a day.  Not the worst way to come back to the game.

Thumbs up for puny legs.

And Saturday will be the West Side Y triathlon. I went back and forth on whether or not I would be there, but finally decided I couldn't miss it. Since I haven't ran over a mile or even been in the water other than to take a shower it will probably go pretty poorly... but with Ignorance and Arrogance, success is assured! I'll make sure to have a proper race report next week, good, bad or ugly.


Thanks for reading! I really appreciate it.

- Christopher Morelock