Lessons

A little late but thought I'd recap this weekend. It started with the Chantilly Crit M35+ race. Man, the weather was a bit ridiculous, low 50's, super windy with off and on rain, sometimes pretty darn hard. I really appreciate the EVO guys and officials for sticking it out. That's one long, hard day of putting on a race.

Team Bike Doctor had me and our two Brian's (Rist & Sjoberg) towing the line. I haven't seen results, and to be honest, since my warmup was pretty short I wasn't sure how many or who was in the race. I'm not sure what it is, but I generally do pretty well in the nastier conditions and the legs felt pretty good. So, what happens? I decide to test the legs midway into lap 1 with an attack and low and behold just drive the heck out of that move for the rest of the race. Thank heavens Andy Cicero/HPC was as committed as I was. He worked hard as well. The problem was we had Nima with us. Well, I guess that played as expected as he sat on the rest of the race and took the sprint. LESSON LEARNED! But, hey, I ended up third so not all was lost although I felt sort of bad since I know my teammates in the field did a great job disrupting the chase. I kinda planned to do the 1/2/3 for training, but I was cooked so we headed to buy lunch with the race winnings at Anita's Mexican Restaurant...it was pretty darn good.

The field chasing with teammates sitting 3rd & 4th wheel:

Getting the move going:

Here's a short clip (My photographer was in the car most of the race...lol):

Chantilly 35+ from Peter Warner on Vimeo.

On Sunday, I raced the Dolan Circuit Race. First up was the 35+. I have a love/hate relationship with this race. Mainly because of the course, but I suppose in ideal conditions (not so windy) this race would break up and the guys looking to get away would. It's just so easy to sit in. DC Velo does a bang up job putting it on though...very much appreciated. Our team was really active throughout. I'm not sure of exactly when he got away, but our Scott Giles put in a HUGE effort to stay off the front with an ABRT rider for a long time. I tried to do my best to disrupt the chases, but Kelly really jacked it up on the last lap. I had crap for position after the final turn and only mustered an 11th. But, I absolutely loved seeing Scott stay so committed to that move. He raced his guts out. That to me often is better than winning.

a few Jim Wilson Pics. He take amazing photos!

Scott killing it!

I felt kinda bad for this guy. He put a big effort in only to have me sitting second wheel and not pull through.

Getting a little ride up to Scott's move early in the race

The second race later in the day was the 1/2/3. I think Rugg summed it up best by describing it as one massive group ride. Some good miles for me, but that's about it. Really pumped for my buddy Pete Custer to take 2nd! Way to go!