Last weekend was the first real weekend of racing for me. A weekend that had four races in three days. The first race was Saturday at Cantua Creek, a not too hard out and back road race. The weather wasn't too bad, a sunny morning, with a bit of a chill in the air. Took the line with about 30 other riders. The whistle blew and we were off for two laps. Things were going okay until about 10 miles into the first lap when the attacks started, why these guys decide to take off on a charge at the start of a race with no help is beyond me. So with these idiots off the front, the main group starts to get jumpy, and the speed starts to ramp up. I found myself in the middle of the group with a sketchy guy in front of me, so I tried to find my way out of his wheel. But unfortunatley he was half wheeling the spaz in front of him, who decides to make a jerky move to the right and takes out 8 guys, me being one of them. With the crash, my hanger broken and a bruise/raspberry on my left hip, my day was done. Bummer.

Thankfully my friend Barrett also rides a Scott and had an extra hanger for me, and also worked on my bike while I relaxed and rested from the crash. The following day was tough, a 62 mile race that finished up grades of up to 13%. I was doing well in there until the climbs at the end. I was really sore and had to let the main group go, but still finished mid pack becasue the climb killed the rest of the field. 

Monday was a day of redemtion for me. A crit race in Dinuba, 30 laps of pure speed. To make it a bit precarious the rain came in to the valley and made the streets a bit wet. Barrett, Rick, Ben, and I lined up for the 4/5's and worked the race as best we could. Barrett was the captain, giving orders to us to make sure no one got away. If someone did try to get away, I or Barrett would shut them down. With about 3 laps to go I got out front and pushed it hard to try to break the will of those behind me. It worked, beause Barrett gave Ben a great lead out that ended up givng Ben and the team a win. 

Road racing is completely different than mtn. bike racing, but I think I'm getting the hang of it now.

Serious Lack Of Motivation

With all the new things going on, I have been able to take my eye off the ball, so to speak, and do other things than ride a bike. School is in full effect now and it's made me realize that I'm a bit burnt. 

I guess the other thing is that it's really tough out here to plan a season of racing. My goal is to race road this year, but as I have to start over as a beginner and race as a 5, I have noticed that there are races that don't have my category listed for it. This is a real disappointment. This is the main reason for the little break in the program. I was all gun ho about getting going and ot looks loke it's going to take a lot longer than I had wanted to get into the 3's, oh well, I guess there are more important things to worry about. 

I know it's cold in the midwest, but it's been in the 80's here in SLO, can't complain about that. Stay warm back there!

Testing

So yesterday was the first real test of my fitness and I have to say I was pretty pleased with the way that I felt. A bit rusty, not really competeing in a while, but for the most part I was happy. The only things that stinks is that on a remount the chain slipped off and when I went to start pedaling, zing! The cranks turn with no resistance and my right knee goes into the stem. Game over.

I stopped to check if everything was still good, it hurt, but there wasn't anything hurt really bad. Thankfully there wasn't. I tried another lap, but the power was gone along with my enthusiasim. 

Looking forward, the road season starts in a few weeks, so I'm looking forward to that. I think a low key week is on tap. So that's the plan. 

Ouch

With the New Year welcomed in with good friends and a few drinks it was time to head to bed and await a new ride for me on the road. Met everyone at one of the local coffee shops and then off we went.

It ended up being a pretty windy day going up the coast to Cambria. We stopped off at Cuyucous for a bathroom break and basically all but 4 decided to keep pushing onto to Santa Rita Creek Rd....this is one bitch of a ride. It's a 15 or 16 mile loop that has some of the steepest climbs around this area. It's a two step climb and the end of is known as "the wall". Yup, I can vouch for that, don't know how steep it is, but it was REALLY hard to turn over the 39/25 to get to the top. 

In all it was a 5 hour ride of 70 miles and lots of climbing. This is good for race season that starts the first weekend of Feb. Can't wait! 

What Do You Do When It's Freezing Out?

You ride the trainer!

Winter In California

Ahhhh....winter. I have to say that living in California has it's perks. The biggest one is when it's 12 degress back home in Duluth, MN, it's 70 here in San Luis Obispo. Not bad for an early December day. 

So with the weather so nice and the day off, I decided to take part in a group training ride put on here. It was a great way to get some more miles in and get ready for the upcoming season, now that I can get back on the race circut. it was a good 3 hrs, with a steady pace. Although I was over dressed, still have the mentality of the midwest on dressing for winter rides I guess.

I'm registered for classes now a the UWS Distance Learning Program, and am excited to get to work on finishing up my degree, 30 credits left, man what a day that will be when I'm done. It's taken long enough! I've been going to school for 13yrs on this, might be a record for the longest it's taken to finish a degree. But when I do, I believe that I would be the first person on my side of the family to get a college degree, that would be awesome, to say the least.

The new ob at CBO has been going well, although it's been wierd not being on the road, but it's been good to be around a lot more too. A more steady schedule has been a welcomed thing in my life. Thats the update.

Changes

Well all good things must come to an end, and my job with the Trek Demo program is one of them. It's been a while in the making though. I've decided to move on to other things, mainly to finish school. 

It was a hard decision to make, but in the end it's the best thing for me. The politics of making that move have already started in SLO. I'm going to work for a non Trek dealer, which is causing a stir in my direct friends circle, being that they are almost all Trek people, again, I have to do what's best for me. 

So I'm excited to move on and be in one place for a while, and to feel like I'm making progress in my education. The main thing is to be in one place for a LONG time. The traveling part of the job is getting to me too. So more time for me equals a happy Matt. The big plus is that I get to race again, I've been jonesing for that bad. Looks like the SLO cyclocross race in January!