Banana Belt World Championships!
Well, the first race of the year didn't go exactly as planned. Although I've only been training for a month and a half (read, very controlled base, no race efforts), I headed over to the valley to test the legs. I will admit that I thought it was going to be easier for me then it ended up. I was thinking that I'd get in a ill fated break or two, then finish with the main bunch. Maybe even have a last ditch effort with 1K to go. Boy was I wrong. Straight away (like out of the parking lot) I could tell my legs weren't ready for a day of hard efforts. The pace was high on lap 1 of 7 and eventually 3 escaped. I thought I'd have a dig to see if I could blow the legs out, and failed miserably...twice. Oh well, I just figured later in the race I'd feel better and still finish with the group. The team (Hagens Berman) took a few pulls at the front (mostly Joe and Soloman) to try to control the break, but my time at the front was short. On lap 6 I was tail gunning in a bad way, then at the end of the lap, I was dropped. End of day for D! The break was finished off on the last lap, Zach W attacked (apparently against team plans) and won the race. One guy stayed with Zach, but for reasons unknown, the sprint wasn't contested. So, there it is, the first race of the year. High end lacking. It's been 3 months since efforts like that and I was feeling it. At first I was a little down, but I'm over it. The year is long, mtb season is getting nearer and cross season is still along time away.
I got myself a new job. Details coming soon. Hope everyone's enjoying the sunshine (at least in Bend it's sunny!) Thanks for reading.
d
