rutgers season opener

Drove up to Mahy and Tom's house friday afternoon after a 2 hr ride with andrew. Woke up at 6 the next day and felt ready to hit the gas.

ITT: The ITT course was 2.8 miles. I warmed up on the road instead of the trainer and felt this was the right move. I did a few leg opening efforts and saw that my heart rate was climbing into the 170s. This was a great thing to see because it was a sign that I was fresh. Last year I couldnt get my HR where I needed it to be and thus my time sucked.

I started the course really strong and just shut my brain off. I went as fast as I could. My heart rate was holding steady above 180 which is a great effort for me. I started to really hurt after the second turn around but I was content that I kept pushing. Very happy with my time of 6:28 (25.89mph). Ended up 26th out of 93.

Princeton Crit: I watched a few of the races before mine to see how riders would handle the one side of the course which was a pretty good hill. Most people were out of the saddle and I could tell it was going to suck climbing it. So I lined up third row from the front. When we were set off I missed my pedal twice. Me missing the pedal normally wouldnt put me back to far but the start went so fast and I completely missed the opening break. So I basically rode in smaller packs of riders until they pulled me. I was in a ton of pain and was about 10 beats higher than what I normally train at. I went as hard as I could but in the end I just couldnt pull it together.

Sunday Circuit Race: Woke up pretty sore and dehydrated so I made sure to eat twice what I ate saturday for breakfast and drank an entire bottle of gatorade while warming up. Got to the start line in the second row and got clipped in flawlessly this time. The start wasnt nearly as fast as the crit but no one was taking it easy. I was about 10 deep from the front and at the second corner, I saw drew completely wipe out. Shit! The race kept going though and for about two laps people kept trying to break off the front but we brought everyone back in right away. I was in the front of the group and was in every chase. I was feeling great. My legs were fresh, I was hammering and wasnt in pain. All of a sudden, I smacked a pothole. It completely bent my shifters down and my wheel seized up. Ive never yelled the F word that loud in my life. Just when I thought Id be able to put up a decent finish, I had to pull over and see what was wrong. I did and although my wheel freed up, my shifters were still fucked up. I could still shift though so I started hammering trying to chase back onto the group. I had them in my sights for a while but in the end me by myself is not fast enough for a group of 40 riders. I knew I was out but I hammered as hard as I could. I hate quitting and I would rather ride the course by myself embarrased in front of everyone than pull out. 40 minutes in, I was called. Bad luck I guess. My fitness is there though. Cant wait for the next race.