My season finale

Or maybe not...

This weekend is the Mutual of Enumclaw (MoE), and it is the only stage race in my area that I am able to participate in due to work.  Saturday starts with a quick TT, in the morning, then I have a 20 or 30 minute Crit in the afternoon, and culminates with a 30 mile road race Sunday.  I wish the Crit and RR were longer, but "if wishes were horses..."

Last year I did the race and experienced how tough it is to over come a bad TT.  It was not that I performed poorly, I averaged 22.1 mph, I just did not have anything aero.  I finished 9th in the Crit, so I made up a few seconds on others, but had no real hope of a top 10.  As a result I tried to break the field on the climb, a real beast, so that my teammates could move up in position.  I did not break the field, did explode, put on a good chase, never caught back on, but did hurt enough people so that my teammate moved into 3rd for the GC.  That was plenty reward!

Opening a small gap in the Crit

Recently, I borrowed a pair of clip on aerobars and practiced using them on the TT route.  My plan was to not go all out, as in the race, so that I could get a feel for them.  First thing I noticed...TWITCHY!!!  Second, "wow they are fast."  Third, I am awful with directions and took a wrong turn, TWICE.  Luckily I noticed right away and was able to get back on course, the first time.  The result...I would have finished in 8th place for last years TT, including my time lost for the wrong turns.  Guess what???  I now own a pair of clip on aerobars.

Thursday I plan to ride the course again, hopefully the correct route without any wrong turns, and will attack it as if it were the actual TT.  I cannot wait to see my performance, compare it to the other day, and also compare it to last years results. 

I also plan to ride the road race course on Thursday, even though I am fairly familiar with the route.  I just want to get one more experience on the climb, and plan to attack the climb near race pace.  It is always amazing how much faster we go in races, compared to riding as an individual or as a casual group.  Competitive juices make for lots of speed!

picture of the  molecules from my competitive juices.

After Thursday's ride I pan to give my baby a through wash down, lube her up, and make her sparkle like the $1,000,000 she is!  Then I will meticulously set out all my gear, check, double, triple, and quadruple check that everything is present and in order.

sexy, beautiful, amazing, fast...I am in lust!!!

Hopefully all goes well and I secure at least a top 10 GC finish...I have yet to crack the top 10 this year, so an overall top 10 would be a pretty spectacular finish for the season...or maybe not the end of the season.

There are still summer Crits and a couple of scattered road races that are accessible to me, but I am not sure if Bella is willing to spare summer time for them.  The one summer race I do have an eye on requires a different bike than I have, so I must sell my Bianchi ASAP if I plan to race it.  In my mind the race is Strade Bianche.  Minus being in Italy, the pro's, steep climbs, and long miles...otherwise it is the EXACTLY the same race.

Strade Bianche...how awesome!

Even if I do not race, I plan to log lots of miles.  Currently I average 160 miles a week, and hope to get near 225 miles a week during the summer.  My goal in January was to log between 8,000 and 9,000 miles for the year...It should be within reach.