One of my goals these past few months has been to have fun and keep my motivation up. My training volume has dropped and most of my rides are less organized and "fun" rides. So I have been enjoying time off the bike during the week and racing most weekends during the fall. A good thing to do every now and then, but it comes with a sacrifice in fitness level. Keeping this in mind, I have expected a drop in my fitness level and this past weekend was a perfect example of exactly that.

     The race took place in Belleview, Florida. I had a good start off the line and was able to hold my own, but when the top 5 guys took off, I found myself powerless! Pacing myself was the only option. I pushed it hard for the entire race staying positive as much as possible. Most of my lap times were exactly the same, but the lower fitness and power output resulted in a 6^th place finish.

    I was not disappointed with the result at all.  The guys who finished in front of me are well respected and strong mountain bikers. A 6^th place result with a lower fitness then in the past is a great result. That being said, I am very excited about the higher training volume and high intensity workouts that are just around the corner. Just one more month of hard work at the JOB and then 24/7 biking! Those are the fun times…….lots and lots of time on the bike with plenty of rest to reap the benefits of the hardcore training. I look forward to it and hope to see some of you in the 2008 racing year.

  This past weekend’s races were in North Miami, Fl at Oleta State River Park.

   Saturday consisted of a flat and road-like cyclo-cross race. A decent turnout consisting of primarily road bikers showed up for the Cat 1-4 race that I was competing in. I was looking forward to the new competition and went into the race very motivated. The two mile course was almost completely flat with some technical areas. One of which was a slalom BMX track with tight turns a slight elevation gains and also some log jumps that forced you off the bike for some running action. The competition included two Florida Cat 1 racers. One of which won the cyclo-cross series last year.

   I went into the race set on these two riders and put my focus towards a podium finish.  The race started with an intense first lap with constant fighting for position.  I came around the first lap (out of 10) hurting, but slowly settling in to the race pace. By the third lap I had settled in just behind the two Cat 1 leaders. Paul Kavan, last year’s Florida cyclo-cross winner, took off putting a gap on both me and the other rider, Alex Gutierrez. I struggled to maintain a strong pace but was able to maintain a 10-20 second gap on the Alex in 2^nd place.  The last 6-7 laps were a blur to me.  I was constantly making a few seconds here and there on Alex, but then losing them on the next lap. Our pace was very fast to the point where me, Paul, and Alex all lapped the entire field. My legs were hurting, I was struggling, but on the verge of catching Alex so I kept on pushing to the point where I got within 6 seconds of him. I was convinced that I would catch him. However, at that moment I took a fall that would cause me that 2^nd place finish. Going into the final lap he was about 15 seconds ahead of me pushing just as hard as I was. At the finish I gave it one last go and sprinted the last 300 yards, but he still managed to beat me by about 2 seconds.

   All together this was one of the toughest races I have raced in. The intensity was never let off and I pushed it to the limits. With this in mind, I still had a Semi-Pro / Pro mountain bike race the next day. So I set off to pre-ride the course as a cool-down from the cyclo-cross race.

   The mountain bike course was filled with fast fire road mixed in with technical, rocky, and very rooty terrain. I went into the race ill-prepared for what I was about to face. The cyclo-cross race took a lot out of me, and on top of that my bike was set up with ultra thin tires and improper pressures in the fork, rear shock, and tires. However, I still felt confident that I could do well and focused on having fun on the tough course.

  I started the race in front of the pack feeling surprisingly good, with little to no fatigue so far in my legs and this continued throughout the first two laps. But, within the second lap I suffered a flat tire and bent my derailleur hanger. Ok, not a big deal and I went along fixing them losing only a minor 1-2 minutes. That was only the start though. Fatigue started to hit me hard in the third lap and to top things off I got another flat that was not repairable. A sure way to DNF. I walked off the course extremely fatigued and hurting from the two days of competition.

   The lesson I learned from this was to be prepared for each and every race. The mechanicals and bike setup I had did not match the courses conditions and were the direct cause of my DNF. That in combination with my fatigue from the prior day made this past weekend an extremely difficult one that has left me less enthusiastic about the sport and the rest of this year’s racing. The good thing is I only have two more races to do before that big thing called work hits peak season putting me on the job 24-7. A forced off the bike resting period is the best way to put it. After that I will hopefully be more then motivated to get some long and hard training days in to prepare for next year’s SERC and NMBS races just around the corner.

   I hope to see some of you at the last few FSC races and possibly some of the SFC races also. Have a good one and see you all around.