One 8.5 hour shift separates me from a week-long vacation in Door County this week ending with a race in River Falls (Hopefully). I am really looking forward to being able to unwind and decompress a little before school and all the fun things that come with it. Hopefully I'll have some pictures to post next week. Until then, give me a call if you are heading to Fiver Falls instead of Race the Lake!
-Andy
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Race Report: WORS #7- Alterra Coffee Bean Classic
The last few days were pretty incredible; my new roommate moved in on Friday, I turned old Yesterday, had a going away party for my current roommate and of course raced today. To rewind quickly, Friday was pretty crazy with trying to figure out how to let my new roommate (Alex) in without being at the apartment and also finding room for my current roommate to move his stuff into the living room for the next couple weeks. Thankfully, all of that went smoothly and now Alex is moved in (for the most part) and I think I speak for the two of us when I say I am excited for the coming year.
Last night, I went out to Botanas for mexican with my old roommate James and a bunch of friends to wish James success as he moves to Iowa to pursue Higher-er education (PhD).
Today was pretty insane. I can't think of any good word to sum it all up in one. I woke up and got ready to race in Franklin. I caught the Citizen and Citizen Youth races and then began getting ready for my own race. To start my warm up, I did a quick climb of the uphill start to get the heart rate up. At the top I began to hear a ping from my back wheel. Instinctively, I look down to see my rear wheel shimmying from side to side.
Upon further inspection I see the culprit - a broken spoke on the drive-side of the wheel. I felt my heart sink a little as I entertained the thought of spectating at a race I was supposed to be in. I checked with numerous people and at the shop tents and found no one who had a wheel I could borrow. I watched as racers started going off thinking today was just not meant-to-be. As Don was calling up the series leaders for my age-class, I bumped into Diana from the team who happened to have a wheel I could borrow! I swapped the wheels and ran to the Parktool tent to adjust my brakes. As I flew to the bottom of the hill and into the start, Don was calling all other riders to the line. I was not in the ideal starting position, but I was thankful to be in the start shoot at all!
As we climbed the hill I was feeling great, but I could feel my chain skipping gears. As we hit the course lead-out, I was able to make a quick fine adjustment on-the-fly which seemed to fix things. The tight single track proved to be a problem as I was stuck behind a group of slower riders with no passing opportunities. As we got further into the lap, I was able to make a couple small passes but nothing substantial. Finally, I saw a spot in the trail ahead and yelled, "LEFT!" as I flew past the riders. I came into a section of fast single track called the Alpha Trail which helped me to bridge the gap to the next group of riders. As I neared the steep switchback climb up the back of the ski hill, I passed a few more riders and started seeing more guys from my age class. Climbing the start hill into lap two, I spotted Wenzlick and knew I was back in the race. I grabbed his wheel through the lead-out and into the single track. As we moved through some single track, I saw an opportunity to pass Ryan and the guys ahead. Ryan made the first move to the right and almost went down with another rider, as I went to the left to avoid a crash and was able to get ahead of the group. I admit that was not the nicest move I have ever made, but I was able to get in front of the group and onto the switchback climb first. I knew I was in the finishing stretch, so it was all or nothing. I found myself flying through the single track and pulling further ahead. I came through the last section of single track with no problems and turned onto the finish hill. I heard the announcer saying "places will be won and lost right here..." right then I looked back to see two guys on my wheel getting ready to make a move. At this, I stood up on the pedals and gave it everything I had left to get to the finish line first.
I could not believe that things worked out so well! It was truly a blessing to run into Diana at the last minute to borrow her wheel. When I checked the results I was excited to see I had managed to recover from a poor start to take 4th place in my age class with only seconds to spare!
Overall, I would say this was purely an amazing race and I definitely owe it to my team for being there in a pinch. A huge thanks to Diana from the Titletown Flyers for allowing me to use her wheel!!!
-Andy
Last night, I went out to Botanas for mexican with my old roommate James and a bunch of friends to wish James success as he moves to Iowa to pursue Higher-er education (PhD).Today was pretty insane. I can't think of any good word to sum it all up in one. I woke up and got ready to race in Franklin. I caught the Citizen and Citizen Youth races and then began getting ready for my own race. To start my warm up, I did a quick climb of the uphill start to get the heart rate up. At the top I began to hear a ping from my back wheel. Instinctively, I look down to see my rear wheel shimmying from side to side.
Upon further inspection I see the culprit - a broken spoke on the drive-side of the wheel. I felt my heart sink a little as I entertained the thought of spectating at a race I was supposed to be in. I checked with numerous people and at the shop tents and found no one who had a wheel I could borrow. I watched as racers started going off thinking today was just not meant-to-be. As Don was calling up the series leaders for my age-class, I bumped into Diana from the team who happened to have a wheel I could borrow! I swapped the wheels and ran to the Parktool tent to adjust my brakes. As I flew to the bottom of the hill and into the start, Don was calling all other riders to the line. I was not in the ideal starting position, but I was thankful to be in the start shoot at all!As we climbed the hill I was feeling great, but I could feel my chain skipping gears. As we hit the course lead-out, I was able to make a quick fine adjustment on-the-fly which seemed to fix things. The tight single track proved to be a problem as I was stuck behind a group of slower riders with no passing opportunities. As we got further into the lap, I was able to make a couple small passes but nothing substantial. Finally, I saw a spot in the trail ahead and yelled, "LEFT!" as I flew past the riders. I came into a section of fast single track called the Alpha Trail which helped me to bridge the gap to the next group of riders. As I neared the steep switchback climb up the back of the ski hill, I passed a few more riders and started seeing more guys from my age class. Climbing the start hill into lap two, I spotted Wenzlick and knew I was back in the race. I grabbed his wheel through the lead-out and into the single track. As we moved through some single track, I saw an opportunity to pass Ryan and the guys ahead. Ryan made the first move to the right and almost went down with another rider, as I went to the left to avoid a crash and was able to get ahead of the group. I admit that was not the nicest move I have ever made, but I was able to get in front of the group and onto the switchback climb first. I knew I was in the finishing stretch, so it was all or nothing. I found myself flying through the single track and pulling further ahead. I came through the last section of single track with no problems and turned onto the finish hill. I heard the announcer saying "places will be won and lost right here..." right then I looked back to see two guys on my wheel getting ready to make a move. At this, I stood up on the pedals and gave it everything I had left to get to the finish line first.
I could not believe that things worked out so well! It was truly a blessing to run into Diana at the last minute to borrow her wheel. When I checked the results I was excited to see I had managed to recover from a poor start to take 4th place in my age class with only seconds to spare!
Overall, I would say this was purely an amazing race and I definitely owe it to my team for being there in a pinch. A huge thanks to Diana from the Titletown Flyers for allowing me to use her wheel!!!-Andy
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