still hangin' tough yet

I thought I'd be down for the count by this point based upon the flu bug that invaded me for a couple days last week. However, the road 5k @ Sky Harbor Airport on Saturday left me a bit surprised. Going down there I had zero motivation but needed to go since I already signed up & wanted to gauge whether traveling to race my bike on Sunday would be worth it. Like I mentioned, right away I felt really good in terms of joint aches probably because I lost 12 POUNDS while sick. A bonus like this carries heavy baggage in the form of weakness that was evident in my two-mile warmup. We shivered intensely during the National Anthem as the clouds spit at us. Fortunately, only a light breeze needed to be dealt w/around the soccer fields. On this morning, I chose to run w/o a watch or HR monitor for the first time in I can't even remember and it was something enjoyable. On the way out to the turnaround, everyone held their positions but on the return there was much surging and dropping of people. Unexpected participant, Andy Holak was in the field and he made the race for me as I know he is as solid as they get being a talented and veteran in ultra marathoning on the trail so I figured the pace wouldn't fall off. He pulled me pasted a few once back thru the park gate and I felt a little bad out kicking him in the final tenth before the line. Finishing 5th overall w/a time of 17:56 left me pleased & optimistic. Cooling down w/David Hyopponen for another two miles was nice because he's encouraging me to latch on to him during the Gobble Gallop 5k which would have been great had my form been stronger earlier too??

On Sunday, the alarm went off @ the usual 5:45 AM to get me moving thru my now very drilled routine to hit the road by 7:15 AM. Bassett Creek Park in Crystal, MN has long been the venue that holds the final racing action for cyclocross in the state and one could easily understand why! The course has everything to test the skills of a rider and it used all features by stringing them together a different way year after year. Lots of fast asphalt paths, turny off camber grass, double & triple barrier sections, railroad tie steps(dubbed "the staircase to hell"), sand(beach volleyball courts), and a mini expo to set the atmosphere w/rowdy fans. I had an OK start considering officials did callups based on order of registration which put me in the back. Despite that, I rode well and found the openings to make my way to the front and then it was over before we completed the first lap. Somehow I got caught snoozing and let the lead group jump off the front w/o even noticing which later as things developed I realized I didn't have what it took anyways to mix it up. Quickly everyone learned strengths and weaknesses of their competitors and it was on!! My struggles were spinning the always dreaded flat tarmac and shouldering my bike for the run up(which I later concluded grabbing the downtube would have been more fluent than the top tube near the seat collar). My favorite piece was rolling into the double barrier section because there was a slight valley before rising to a slight incline where they were propped on the crest. I was confident coming into them quick which enabled me to showcase my agility and put a gap on my rivals. Plenty of changes in spots occurred but I held on for 6th overall in another talented single speed field.