Just for Rick...

Cat 4 !!

Its official! Got the upgrade today. Lots of work to do this winter, looking forward to it. First on the agenda is the Tidewater Mountain Bike Challenge in October. Hopefully I can peak for this. Time to get back on the MTB.
Being a Cat 4 will allow me to do the 30+ races and road races. If I travel to a event, it will be nice to do more than 1 race. Homie Greg got his upgrade last week, congrats to him. I am already excited about next year!

Last Cat 5?

Thanks again to Pat for letting me borrow the new "tent". Very nice to have some shade at the Sportsplex today. Thanks to Coastal Racing for putting on a cool event. A DJ spinning tracks, an announcer dude, food, drinks, this is how a race should be put on!

Thanks to everyone that showed up to watch Greg and I suck! Greg had a summer cold but still did better than me! Felt good the first half, got caught out by myself the second. Turned myself inside out to catch up, to no avail. Sorry we couldn't put on a better show.

Crits galore!

The Chesapeake Crit was last Saturday (Thanks Pat). It was a gorgeous day, good for racing. Felt good in the pack, just need to work on getting closer to the front. Still finished 16th out of 36 starters. My homie Greg got 14th. Still seeing and feeling improvements, but wanting better finishes.

The last "training crit" in the summer series was Wednesday. Interesting format in that they only run 1 race. That means I get to ride with the big dogs! Turned out much faster than the cat 5 races so far. I held on to the middle to the back of the pack as usual, but this was a confidence booster because of the caliber of riders. Still had legs for a short sprint to the line. Not sure were I finished, back of the pack, but it was fun!

Looking forward to the "Coastal Crit" coming up Sunday the 17th at the Va. Bch. Sportsplex. Only 18 preregistered for the cat 5. Homie Greg and I representing JRVS/Casey Auto. Confidence running high! Stay tuned...

The Chesapeake Crit is this Saturday! This is where my first taste of racing happened last year. Did I get lapped 3 times or 4? Ahh yes, seems like only yesterday. Funny how the pain and suffering fades with time.

Speaking of pain and suffering, Rick "the dear whisperer" Young has been flogging me regularly on Tuesdays. To ride with him and others in a group is not too bad, recovery can be found in the back. To ride with just him leaves you with nowhere to hide. Work hard to stay in the draft doing 27+mph, then try and pull. Greg "the night owl" Everson was my proverbial carrot, but his work schedule keeps him from riding on weeknights. He still finds time for us mere mortals on weekends.
Sunday was a fun 60 miler. Rick, Greg, "dancing" Joe and I, meet up at Fat Frogs in Chesapeake. Several rides leave at 7:30, including a A+ group. However the ride is only 21 miles. A healthy group of 15 or so guys pulled out and we were rolling along at 26-28mph. We had decided to make this a longer ride, and soon we split off and headed for the Pungo Ferry Bridge. After climbing the bridge and back over again, we headed down Blackwater Rd. into Carolina. As we suck Ricks wheel down a thin ribbon of asphalt that splits fields of Soybeans, my peripheral vision picks up a brown dot floating on a sea of green. In the distance ahead screams the over sized mud tires of a rednecks truck, coming our way at a rapid clip. I soon realise the "brown dot" is a dear running on a collision coarse with the truck and us all meeting at the same time! The dear jumps out in front of the redneck, we slam on the brakes, and the redneck smiles. I don't know how we all missed each other. The dear runs off, we continue on our way, and the redneck never even flinched. The rest of the ride was uneventful in comparison.
Back home safely again, the lawn mower is calling. Knowing that my priorities are in order, I can now cut the grass. See you at the Chesapeake Crit!