Another Unbelievable Weekend

This weekend the racing schedule included Willow Run Time Trial and the last AAVC crit of the spring series. I was quietly confident going into the TT. I knew my TT skills had increased a little bit from last year and was hoping it would be enough to beat Petzold, Clark and Card. The course is a 6 lap race totally 13miles. I felt good during warm-up and headed to the start line. I got there just in time which is a little scary, i had 20seconds to spare. I started up off fast but felt i could hold the pace. I suffered a little on lap 4 but was able to pick it back up for the last 2 laps. I ended up winning the race with my best TT average ever. My computer had an average of 29.4mph. I won by about 5seconds, by no means a whooping but enough to get the W. After heading back to Kalamazoo for Tara's graduation I headed back to Ann Arbor to race with the team. The field was huge for a spring race in April. Over 80 guys!!! I was really surprised. The race was really aggressive and I felt like i had a target on my back. The team did a great job and Rob and Tom got in a break with Priority Health rider Jeff Koch. They worked hard and hung out there the whole day. I attempted to bring once but the field gave chase immediately and i was afraid it would only reel my teammates back to the field. With 20laps to Tucker Olander bridged across to the break. On lap 15 my team mate Brian Adams also bridged. I sensed the field was fatiguing so I bridged a lap later. So with 14laps to go we had 4 Lathrup riders in a break of 6. We got the gap back up to 30 seconds. Brian and Tom told me it was up to me to make the winning move. I figured with 5 to go would be a good distance for me to make a good attack. Jeff was unhappy with all of there and began to attack. Rob fell victim to one of these, and paid for all his hard work during the day. He one hell of a fighter though, a true animal on the bike. With Jeff attacking so much i figured by lap 5 he would be a little tired and Tucker would be more apt to try and come with me. I waited for him to take a pull and as soon as he swung off I made my move with 5 to go. I got a big lap and held it to the finish for the win. Brian came in for second and Tom for 4th. It was a true team victory. The way the team raced it was almost easy. I love racing with these guys. I am pretty excited about Cone coming up this weekend. I think that we will be hard to beat with everyone going well.

New Kit and Race Photo's

Another Tough Day at the Runway

So, Sunday was pretty exciting. The team got their brand new kits, which look awesome. The whole team was their and raging early on. We have been talking about picking up a new rider from the UK. His name is Muerig, he's a super nice guy and a real tough guy on the bike. I guess rode pretty well in the chase group last weekend and this week ended up making the break with me.
So anyways on with the race day. We got our new kits and rode from Tom's house down to the race in Ann Arbor. The plan was to have Rob, Jim, Tom and Alvin cover some early moves and keep Brian and I protected. Brian is doing well in the Overall and we we're trying to get him the win. Well best laid plans as they say. I ended up attacking for a prime and opened up a huge gap on the field. I spend 2 laps by myself before being caught by a chase group of 3. We starting working together and opened up a small gap in 3 laps. Then for some reason or other we started loosing riders out of the break. First the Priority Health rider disappeared and then a lap later Tucker Olander was gone. So it ended up being Muerig and I for 45 laps by ourselves. We worked pretty well together. Muerig wasn't feeling well due to birthday celebrations the night before but he did enough work to give me a small rest every lap. The closest the field got again was about 12sec. In the last laps we were starting to tire out, but we had about 30seconds still on the field. Muerig led the sprint out and i jumped hard into the last corner and won the race. Another great race and i can't believe I have been able to win another one. I think I need a good pinch, but I don't want to wake up from this dream.

Pictures

Some Local Races and I Pick Up Another One

This weekend i opted out of Collegiate for some races with my teammates. Saturday is the tough Waterford Course with it's usual blistering wind. The race started off hard and i rode way too aggressive from the start. Brian, Jim and I were in everything serious for the first hour of the race but nothing would stick. It was a very difficult race to read. I went really really deep to no avail. We were all blown out by the end, Vince Roberge slipped away with Tony Bruley at a nice little hesitation and capitalized and rode in for the win with Vince coming out on top. Sunday is the Ann Arbor crit with another blistering windy day. I felt that it would break apart quickly with the course and the uphill into the wind. On the 4th lap I bridged across to a nice move with Todd Elenz, Ray Dabowski, Ian Lockery, and John Meyers. We began working well and established a good lead. with about 20 laps to go Todd attacked to thin it out and we lost Ian and John. Ray, Todd and I continued to work despite Todd many attacks. He was really strong but definatley did not want it to come to a sprint between the three of us. He attacked 3 times in the last 5 laps, but Ray and I were able to stay with him. Coming into the last lap i fought for 3rd wheel for the tactical advantage, I jumped for the sprint about a third of the way up the hill and came across a bike length ahead of Todd for the win. It was a really tough race with the wind and ended up being much harder than i expected for an early race. I was very happy how well I felt considering how deep I went yesterday. I think it is showing how well conditioned my coach has gotten me this year. I am looking forward to the NRC stage races in May. I should have some photo's to post later. Thanks for reading I appreciate comments.

Maybe some good Weather

This weekend I will be traveling over to the east side with Alvin to do a 2 race weekend at the Waterford Raceway and then the Ann Arbor training series crit on Sunday. Most of the team will be there for the races so i am pretty excited to be back racing with them. Jeff will not be there due to his hip recovery and Rob is a maybe because of a cold. But I'm sure the other 5 of us will be more than enough to bring home some good results. I am excited to see Brian back in form and see Tom ramp up later on. With all the guys riding well, we will have so many cards to play. Hopefully there will be good things to report, mostly good weather would be appreciated.

Josh

WMU races

Saturday
This weekend we hosted 2 races here in Kalamazoo and boy were they a couple of doozies. Saturday was tough from the go with some tough attacks and a nice wind. I intended to take it easy and save my efforts for the second half of the race. Well, you know what they said about the best laid plans. About 5miles in I tried setting Alvin up for a break, i guttered the field into the cross wind. When i swung off, a break started to go, but Alvin had slipped a little too far back after an earlier attack. With Bennet and Jon Swain and Greg in the move I knew it was a serious move, I ripped it off the front and crossed at the last minute to make it a break of 6. We went to work and started to put time on the field. Thing were going well until we got stopped by a crossing train. The field caught us and we decided that the field would wait 2 minutes after the train left while we got our gap back and then continue chasing us. Then the rain came. 45 degees and raining is about as bad of weather as you can have on a bike. It really felt like i was in Belgium again. We ended up dropping 2 of the guys in the break and it was down to Swain, Bennet, Greg and I. On the last lap the attacks started to come. Greg went first and i followed quickly. Swain then kept the pace high but Greg went again. I hesitated and jumped across, Swain chased us back and Bennet went. Greg jumped with him and i ended up pulling Swain down the road and trying to keep Greg and Bennet close. Swain jumped me and I ended up being the last man out. I chased to no end and ended up 4th. It was a very tough race with a 65mile breakaway.
Sunday
Sunday was a Westerns Circuit race though campus. The course is very hilly again with a tough wind. This race always starts fast and the selection is usually early on. On the second lap I made a strong attack but initiated it a little too early and paid for my bad timing. Just as i was starting to cook over the top, i was countered by a strong group and got left in the field. I was not happy to miss the break. It was very disappointing for me. I spent the rest of the race pulling the field around trying to keep the break close. I attacked with 4 laps to go and got gap with a UofM rider and a Northwestern rider. They gave me a little bit of help, but i was doing the majority of the work. I thought there was a chance i could catch part if not all of the break. Long story short it didn't happen. Oh well. I raced well and felt really good. The form is coming along well and should really be rolling by late April into May. Here are some pics from the weekend.