A good Weekend in Gainesville
April 5th was wet, cold and the start of a great weekend. The second stage race of the Georgia Cup premier series was held in Gainesville, GA over the weekend. The TT was around 10 miles and it was followed by a 54 mile road race a couple of hours later. The following day would be an afternoon crit.
The day started in the mid 50's, raining and a little windy. So, a nice Spring day in Belgium! The TT started flat for a mile and then was climbing up until the turn with two RR tracks along the way. After the turn it was down and fast. The hills were pure suffering. I was able to keep a good pace and then blistered the return. I won the TT by :20....a good start to a stage race weekend. The RR was hilly. I was not sure how I would ride after the TT effort. There was a KOM climb on each of the two - 27 mile laps. The hill was 1.5 K with a 9% average grade. I have suffered on this hill in years past and was worried. I got to the base of the climb fairly far back in the pack and to my surprise, was climbing better than most. I was the 4th across the KOM line on the first lap and 8th on lap 2. About 4 miles out I moved into the lead of the pack and at around a mile to go was third wheel. As the group acellerated, I went off the front on a gamble at around 250 yards. I faded about 50 out and got swarmed. I finished 24th, but with the same time as the pack. The remainder of the day was spent drying bags, shoes, helmets, etc.
Sunday was going to be interesting- Saturday had been hard and I went into the Crit as the Stage race leader by 1.4 seconds. KOM and finish time bonuses were making this really tight. I rode the crit fairly conservatively, I hit the final sprint mid pack and ended up 8th. Kept my lead of 1.5 seconds and won the weekend.
So far, I have had a podium in my last three outings, so far....so good. This weekend is a stage race in Chattanooga TN. I've got my fingers crossed.
Keep the rubber side down ;- )