Tuesday Night Racin'

I've lived in Sonoma County for almost 4 years now, and every summer I've managed to do a handful of Tuesday night Corporate Center Criteriums. Some years, they were the only races I did.  Last night, I made it out for my first Tuesday night race this year.  It was great to have Hopley there too!

I felt inspired to hammer after reading an interview with old racing friend Chad Hartley.  This particularly inspired me:

K-man: Do you have any advice for folks looking to become a pro? (training and other advice)
Chad: Go harder- a lot harder. The last 5 km of a pro tour race is 70kmph, then we sprint- so go harder. Most people don't go hard enough to race, recover and open.

I can remember training with Chad around his home near Chicago.  He would sprint me for every damn sign on the road.  Chad and I raced together for the national team at the Vuelta a Guatemala in 2000 then on Jittery Joe's in 2002.  I quit racing in 2003, and Chad has gone on to have a successful career.

Last night Chad inspired me to push harder.  I needed that.  For the last couple of months I haven't felt like I could go harder.  Last night, I felt like hammering myself into the ground, which I kinda did but not enough.  There are signs of improvement, though. 

On the second lap, I started a break that would stay away to the finish.  We started with 3, then we were joined by another a couple of laps later.  [Sorry - I don't know these folks' names.  I think there was an Aaron and a Todd in the break.]  We worked together solidly and gained a 20-30 second advantage over the field.  There were a couple of attacks before the final 4 laps, but nothing serious.  With 2 laps to go, I put in an effort or two, but I attack like the OA van accelerates. 

On the last lap, Todd attacked out the penultimate corner.  It was the right place to go.  There's a headwind there, so a gap is difficult to close if the pressure is on.  I could tell he was about to go, and if only for a millisecond I hestitated.  That was that.  I spent that entire section clawing my way to close the gap and not making much headway.  The other two guys jumped into the corner, and I sat up.

I sat with that moment's hesitation during meditation this morning.  I've seen the same feeling so many times in the past.  Why wait?  Why not just close the gap immediately and stay on the wheel?  Of course, it's not always that simple, but overall, it seems that the more confidence and less fear that we carry the better. 

I was pleased with last night.  It felt great to be making the race and not just having my ass handed to me.  There should be more of that.

Also, I met a guy named Dave at the race last night who said he reads my blog.  Word up, Dave!  It's cool to meet people who actually read this.