fitchburg

so i spent my fourth of july racing a 4 day stage race up in MA. i was racing the pro/1 category, and the field was stacked as it was an NRC event.

day 1 was the TT. i rocked aerobars and borrowed a zipp 808 rear and 404 front from my teammate brett. i felt good, and still only came in 100th out of like 171 starters i think. more aero equipment would have helped some, but there were a lot of fast dudes. mike friedman of garmin slipstream was there and he raced in paris roubaix earlier this year. i avged around 27 mph. tom zirbel won and beat me by over 2 mins on the 9 mile course. he avged more like 31 mph, but then again he did beat levi at the USPRO TT championships last year. yea, he's fast.

day 2- circuit race
this race is a 3 mile circuit with a tough hill, a flat backstretch and then a 45 mph downhill leading back into the uphill. this race was crazy from the gun. people everywhere bumping bars, crashes, super fast...just chaos. i was feeling good physically, but i was too far back, trying to stay away from the crazy people, which seemed like everyone. eventually people started opening gaps on the back stretch and after closing a few i came off for good. it was not a crit, so i still had to finish, and rode ~72 miles because i was lapped by the field. there were 80 finishers and one was my teammate mike, so that was a good ride for him.

day 3- road race
110 mile race, 10x on an 11 mile hilly loop with a feedzone/finish climb that really hurt. it was again crazy fast from the gun. people were opening gaps all over on the hill, and i was too far back again and forced to jump around. eventually, 4 laps in, the field was starting to get down to a manageable size, but i broke a spoke before the fast descent. sram gave me no pace back up, and it was game on at the front, so i was unable to catch back on. i linked up with two other riders (one being OUCH pro bobby lea) and we rode the rest of the day, and finished ~40 minutes down. if i hadn't broken that spoke, i am not sure how i would have fared. i was already in the hurt box, so it was bound to be a long day for me whether or not i was in the field.

day 4- crit
after getting my face smashed in the first 3 days, i was intimidated for the crit, as these are not my strength. however, it was a manageable pace from the start, and the corners were not too fast or sketchy. like all nrc crits, it got pretty fast towards the end, but i was able to finish in the field in 76th position- nothing great, but i guess i'll take it after days 2 and 3.

i ended up 100th overall on g.c. not stellar, but i finished, and it's good to have my first nrc stage race under my belt (after crashing out of joe martin earlier this year).

i hope that you are all doing well. I am still home now, but will be back in evanston in a couple of weeks and look to get in on some rides. i also hope that everyone is able to watch the tour, because it is awesome. post to the blog and let us know what you are up to!


- will