It’s cross season already and I didn’t keep up with regular race reporting so here’s a quick recap of what has happened since the Dead Dog.
North Boulder Park Crit
The goal for this race was simply to not get dropped and pulled like I did last season. I went into it feeling more fresh than I did last year so I think that helped quite a bit. Not only did I not get dropped this time, I was able to stay well positioned throughout the race and even got on the front and stepped up the pace on several laps.
Going into the final lap I was able to get to get into a decent position but not quite close enough to the front since I finished somewhere just out of the top ten. I’m still not quite sure where I placed since they botched the results and only placed the top ten riders. This is a classic race, I love the course and the crowd was amazing.
BRC Real Estate Crit
This was the first crit of the year where I had a close call. A rider and I bumped pretty good, we were lucky that was all that happened. I felt decent during the race but didn’t have what I needed at the end and finished 13th. The finish was on a long gradual curve so that was the first time I’d ever sprinted while turning. It’s weird!
Mt. Evans Hill Climb
I surprised myself in this race and finished 7th with a time of 2:10. I had never ridden up Mt. Evans and was blown away by the scenery. This is an incredible race. Doing well here made me re-evaluate what kind of rider I see myself as.
Salida Road Race
This race went really well up until the second to last lap where I got serious cramps in my legs and was dropped from the lead group. I ended up in 13th again.
I had originally planned on keeping my road season going through Steamboat but after Salida my motivation to keep going was low. I was really feeling ready for a break. A failed interval workout followed by some thinking on the way home was all I needed to decide I was done with road for the year. I also realized that if I took some time off a little earlier than planned it would mean that I could be fresh for cyclocross right from the start of the season. That was exciting to think about.