Day job + Scary Cross & Boone Cross Reports

So it looks like it's been almost a month since my last post! During the past month, my business partner went on maternity leave (which means I'm on call 24/7), my son started waking up at 3AM EVERY night (fortunately he's back to his normal schedule), recruited some new sponsors for the team next year, finished a tough block of V02 intervals, raced a few times, and completed a power test. It's been a tough month physically and mentally, but I'm starting to get back in a groove. It's a rough thing, doing the working 50-70 hours a week, not sleeping much, trying to be a good husband and father, help build a local team, and still train on top of it all!

I completed a power test yesterday up Elk Mountain, and despite a fairly mediocre amount of motivation, I pulled out my highest overall power output of the year, and a time just under 23 minutes - not bad considering I was on a heavy bike, carrying my seat pack, extra clothes and a bottle, and had a headwind! So even though the head's a little weak right now, the legs are strong.

On the results front I raced 2 weeks ago at Johnson City and up in Boone. I had a decent start at Johnson City, and even moved into 3 place for a time, before blowing pretty spectacularly and falling out of the top 10. I managed to get my "stuff" together and start to reel riders back in one by one until I pulled back to 7th. Unfortunately a poor last lap, getting bumped over the barriers, and leading out an uphill, headwind sprint put me into 8th on the day.

In between races the family headed to a Halloween Party (not ideal recovery), but we had a blast, and Ethan was a hit!
After waking up at 3AM, I almost bagged a trip to Boone to race for the day, but at the last minute decided to head up to one of my favorite stops on the cross circuit. I got a good warmup, but after the heat and effort the day before, I was feeling pretty "crispy" and decided to start a little less aggressively on such a tough course - due to the altitude and climbing. I actually had an OK start, but a massive crash derailed my efforts as I went over the bars and ended up in the grass of the course. Out of 50+ starters, I was about 46 on the first lap . . . so I just set my mind to pulling back riders each lap, and I actually felt stronger and stronger as the race went on. I pulled back somewhere around 25 guys, plus with those that dropped out, I ended up 16th on the day. OK, but disappointing when a top 10 was well within reach. Unfortunately my teammate Eric was BEHIND even me, but pulled into the top 10 at the end of the race.

Overall, a fun weekend of racing, even though it was the toughest weekend of the year physically, but even more mentally. Thanks for reading, and enjoy the last few races of the year! NCGP is next weekend!