Hueston Woods SP ~ Campus Cyclery

On the upside, I saw a lot of guys I know from Indiana for the first time this year and I didn't see any surprises. Riding on the front covering breaks was not that tough until one guy got out of sight and then the motivated chasers were few. I think people were afraid to get dropped climbing the hills after a respectable pull.

This race would have panned out better for us if we did the 'death march' thing. The pace on the hills was not hard enough and it didn't pick up quickly afterward to thin the herd. There were way too many people in the pack at the end. If we had taken the pain and worked the pack on the first hill every lap, we could have thinned the pack.

The end of the race was nasty with everyone packed together. We didn't stick close enough together and punch it through the fast sections to move toward the front. Our tactical mistakes cost us a good position at the head of the group.

In the sprint, I found holes as they developed up the last climb to the finish and worked myself free to finish 8th. It was a very tough finish and I am glad I came out of it one piece.

The best weather yet for the 2004 season. I had raced this race the previous year, so I knew, for the most part, what to expect. The Hueston Woods Course is rolling with 3 small climbs to give you a bit of a rest. The race is usually hard to break up because of the fast pace and easy terrain, but still you try to cover as many breaks as possible just to make sure nothing gets away. Somehow a break managed to form along with a significantly sized chase group, and of course there were no Savage Hill riders represented. Gamm made a very nice effort to reach the chase group. I swear that I saw him on the back of it, but it seems as if he experienced something I know all too well. (Fizzle and blow-up as you get to the breakaway) Rob, Gamm, and I all made attempts to close the gap to the chase group with no luck. Finally with three laps to go, Gamm made a move when we crossed the start finish line and was able to break free. I jumped also, which Gamm noticed, and waited for me. Gamm then gave me everything he had left and put me off of the front to try to bring in the chase group. I was shortly joined by three other riders. We were able to bring the chase group in, two laps later right at the start finish line.

The final lap consisted of a few attacks with people trying to break free, but for the most part you could tell that it was going to come down to a sprint finish. I made a few futile attempts at breaking away, and was finally able to get away from the chase group with about two miles to go. (I really think that I lulled them to sleep with my attacks that would be better described as a wounded duck, and they finally just let me go)

Overall, I was very happy with how I was riding and feeling, and it was nice to see Rob out there riding in the 1-2-3's. I was also very happy that I did not have to experience the lottery cat 3-4 finish. That would have been insane. Congratulations to the 3-4's they are really working the races and representing us well.

Make sound of head banginging against wall.

The worst mistakes are the ones you make even though you had plenty of opportunity to avoid them. Dropped chain on an easy rise prior to bell lap and that was it for me. I had warnings the other day that this could happen and I did nothing about it. Sorry folks.

We did a pretty good job covering the front and Steve really helped out by stepping up and giving me a break right when I needed it. Joe, of course, was up there the whole time.

I hear the finish was a messy swarm. I wouldn't know, I was the lonely guy.

Can we have a couple of new places added, like OTB and F(ar)OTB? I don't think Field does this justice.

Seeing the guys was great... It's was like I came out of hibernation and I found out people still race... Anyways the race went like this... I first attack went.. and then the roller coaster ride started and didn't end till a hour and half later.. when the break finally was gone for sure.. The speed of the race... was outragous and it wasn't even that fast.. With one lap too go.. All wanted to do was finish with the main group... so I hung on to the fish tail as best I could and go whipped back and forth.. Ended up getting 5th in the field but.. but there was 25 guys off the front that I forgot about. I met the Gamminator... I think the 1/2 squad is getting shorter and shorter... Anyways Fish and Gamm are going strong... and Fish pulled out a great 12th.

I had high expectations for this course but I have to say I was a little disappointed…just too much traffic compared to the roads we usually race on. I was relatively rested for this race and I thought I might be able to mix it up and tire the field a bit. I used the first lap for a badly needed warm-up and then started to make my way up towards the front. By the second lap, the pace quickened some and a few attacks were made I managed to cover a couple and evened tried to initiate one or two myself but the field just seemed too strong today (wish I would have read Ryan’s earlier e-mail) to let breaks go. Soon after my hamstrings were knotting on every little incline…it actually scared me a bit because I usually don’t cramp up or at least not until an all out sprint. That was it for me today, all I hoped to do was recover and eventually try to cover and lead Todd out. Heading into the last lap, I worked myself up to the front with Joe and Will, but the road was too narrow and we were 5 or 6 places too far back to make a good run at the line. The moral of this story, find time to warm-up…it could make the difference.

After promoting a collegiate race on Sat that I actually had to race in (came in 5th woohoo!) and only getting 4 hours of sleep last night I was shocked to not have bad legs.....but I still managed to miss the move because I was sleeping at the back.....seriously my head was on my stem and I was counting sheep, I was actually in the middle of a nice dream that had britney spears in it when I hit a pot hole and was rudely awoken, then nuked myself when I tried to bridge up, on the upside I met Rob today who until now I was lead to belive was somewhat of a fictional character, similar to a unicorn if you will, so that was cool.....I also made it a point to do as much damages as I could before I dropped out = me pulling for about a half mile and getting Fish a good 20 seconds off the field, which I got to look back at and wave to as I pulled off into the parking lot.