Weekend number two of the race season played out much better for me than the first. I have been nursing my knee all week after last Sunday’s crash. Lots of icing, anti-inflammatory cream, and recovery. While I was able to ride, I couldn’t hammer with the left quad, so this meant no climbing and no standing. On Wednesday I did a 5-hour flat ride, and didn’t get out of the saddle once! I am the type of rider that stands a lot, so needless to say I was a bit sore after that one.
After a full day off on Thursday, Friday was the tester ride and the knee held up. What an incredible difference! Four hours with some efforts and hills and the knee survived. So it was off to the races. Fortunately the races are only a half hour ride from my house.
There isn’t a ton to say about the weekend’s events. My mission was just to attack a lot, ride really hard and get in the best workouts in preparation for the California trip at the end of the month. So that is what I did. Saturday I ended up in second place, and had the pleasure of cramping. I cramp in my first race of the year every year, without fail. It hurts, but is good to get it out of the way.
Sunday was the more exciting course, with the climb up Armstrong Hill; a nice steep little climb that works the legs over pretty good after 15 laps or so. One of our new Symmetrics teammates Ryan Anderson was in a four man break right off the line, and ended up winning. The other Symmetrics rider in the race was Cody Campbell, who is also new to the team. After the break had a sufficient cushion we started lighting things up in the pack, and Cody who is still a junior, certainly showed some strength. In the end I rode in for third, and got some nice wattage data on my computer. Now I have some analyzing to do while I ice the old knee. |
|
|