Its Been Busy

FRIDAY
I packed up all of my stuff and headed off to Gaylord where we stayed with my cousin's grandma again. We made the trip in pretty good time which gave us lots of time to spare. We went to Latitude 45 Bike Shop where I was looking for a road bike. I tried out a Cannondale CADD8 R5000 with full Dura-Ace road groupo. I asked if they had anything similar-especially in an '05 so I could get a better price. they called the other shop and had them send a '05 R1000 down with Ultegra and the same sweet Mavic Kyserium Elite wheels.

SATURDAY
We got up early and ate breakfast before we got ready to go pre-ride the race course at Hanson Hills. I rode easy and went in 44 minutes which felt good to get out on the bike again. The down side...I was not ONE with my bike. I think I over shot just about EVERY corner. I could not ride worth a damn. After the ride we went back to the house for some chow. I ate a sandwich and a few sun chips. Then it was off to the bike shop. I tried out the bike and it felt better than the R5000. The setup was a little different and I felt great. It was nice to have some higher bars and to be stretched out with a longer top-tube. That growing 6" after buying a 54cm bike didn't work out too well.

SUNDAY
Race Day. Did my usual, got up and ate some whole wheat pancakes. Went out to the race and warmed up for a while. At the start line, we went off then road the flat 2-track for a short section before the singletrack. I could not keep up on the friggin' flats. We hit the climb and I was on the tire-literally. I rubbed tires twice and had to step off. The pace was so fast then slow, we all had troubles leaving just enough space. I followed a guy the first loop and then knew I had to hammer it to bridge the 30 second gap between me and the others-yes I fell on lap 1 and got further behind. I rode hard and about 3/4 of the way through lap 2(after singlespeeding it up a few hills) I caught the pack. There was the 2 guys in my group, and Elite, and a 20-29 guy. I passed the Elite, then shortly after passing the 20-29 guy, I was standing up pedaling while following the guys in my class, I hit a log off the side of the trail with my foot and bam...I was flat on my face. I didn't have enough time to even get some hands down. I got up and had to get my cahin back on the third ring and jam it through the front derailluer since it fell off and wrapped around the crankarm. Then I was out of it. I could not keep going and riding as well after that. I felt better later in the third lap, and ended up coming third-by 1 second. Another hundred feet and I would have had it as the other guy was near the finish line when I cam e around and sprinted to the end once I saw him. I was told by everyone that I didn't look fresh and as good as I normally do in XC races. Huh, maybe that 12H race and then PLRA on the SS double after that hurt me-nah, how could it! Oh well, I got 20 bucks out of it. Next race is LUMBERJACK 100. It is going to be awesome!
MONDAY
My mom and I stayed in Gaylord and did a road ride. I did this route last year and it was really good with some long sustained climbs along with some good steeps. The new road bike was nice. I could ride in the drops and push comfortably with no back pain, and throughout the whole ride, I had not back pain at all. The longer top tube is really nice to have. The frame with the flexy aluminum seat stays soak up the road vibration more than the carbon stays on my Felt. All in all, itwas a great ride and my legs felt pretty good. A total of 35.6 miles and 1600 feet of climbing for the day.
TUESDAY
Lumberjack, here I come. I am keeping up the longer endurance rides and training for Lumberjack. I will ride a lot this week, then fade off next week as recovery before the big race on Saturday!!! I did trailwork at ILRA traimming the faceslappers on the beginning of Yellow for 2 hrs. At 3pm, I went out and road to ILRA and did a Yellow, then Blue/Yellow. Then I rode over to the Tree Farm via rail trail-dirt paths, and roads. I rode a few miles of the trail until my brother got there and I rode the 10mi loop with him. I then roade back home through dirt roads most of the way for a good 4 hr 45minute ride. I felt great even after all of the riding lately. Man, I haven't done intervals or LT training for a while. Good thing my next CPS race is the Boyne marathon of 56 miles. Perfect for my schedule and training regimen! I will see what tommorrow holds, maybe a recovery road ride, then a long road ride on Thursday..if it doesn't rain-but it probably will.

It's not letting me post my pics, so I will try later.