Yakima Canyon State TT

I am not sure if waking up at 5am to drive 3 hours to suffer for an hour to turn around and drive another 3 hours makes much sense but, nevertheless, that's what I did on Sunday. It figures that the first year I decide to race the ITT it is held across the mountains instead of Tenino, where it usually is, and which is about 15 min from where I now live. Oh well, so it goes. In addition to having to drive 3 hours, I also had to overcome a stomach bug I joyfully acquired just after Matava that had me feeling quite illin' last week. Though it didn't help my preparation it fortunately settled down enough for me to give it a go.

Going into the race I felt totally unprepared. Most of the TT's I have done have been 10-25k and this was 40k (appx. 25 miles). I was hoping to finish in the 56 min range but was not really sure what a good time would be on this course (nor did anyone else since it was the first time it was used in competition). I had two primary concerns-- going out too hard and going out too slow. I was hoping to get a practice 40k in on Monday but the "bug" nixed that. I finally just convinced myself that I would know how hard to go in the moment, ya, right!

So, 5:00am Sunday and off to Yakima Canyon near Ellensburg. Simply put, it was a sufferfest. Everyone I talked with after the race said something like, "that totally friggin' sucked." I could not have said it better myself, matter of fact, I did say something like that only not so PC. The course was not super hilly, though it did have one significant hill about 1k from the turn-around, it was one of those "suck the life out of your legs" kinds of hills. Even though it was not too hilly, it was seldom if-ever flat. There was what seemed like a constant 1-3% grade that fluctuated regularly. Once you felt like you got a good rhythm going there was a grade change. Oh, and if the hill/false-flat combo left any life in your legs the gusting headwind, changing to crosswind and back to headwind on the way back sucked out whatever life was left. Oh what fun! At least it was the same for us all!!!

I had two significant problem during the race. First, my concern for going out too hard won out and I actually did the opposite, I went too easy. If I had it to do again I would have gone harder. I guess I was thinking I would play it conservative and be sure to have something left in the tank after the turn-around (which was probably the right way to play it) but knowing what I know now I believe would have been better off going out harder. The second problem was, well, my "body-saddle" interface. During the race my legs felt great but at about 28k the position on the TT bike left my "crotchal" region hurting so bad I could nary find a spot that could bear enough weight to get a decent pedal stroke going. Yowza, that hurt like, well, a burning crotch.

Both of these problems point to one thing-- I simply needed more time on my TT bike to prepare for a 40k TT. 25k-- no problem, 40k-- problem. I needed both some experience of going at race pace for 40k to see what I could maintain AND, maybe even more importantly, to get my, ahem, "saddle area" accustomed to 40k worth of time-trial-position friction.

When it was all said and done my time, while it was not what I hoped for, it was really not too bad-- 58:18.3 Actually, my time would have been good to give me a bronze medal in the Cat 3 as well as the Masters A but in the apparently "stacked" Masters B it only netted me a 6th place.

In the race for the BARR competition (the only reason I even made the drive) I earned 32pts and I am just 30pts out of first with the ever important Omnium coming up this weekend.

Joe Matava Crit

Saturday was a great day of family racing. Kat, Noah and myself all raced leaving only Luka out of competition-- no 9 month old category. The day got off to an early start since I had agreed to support teammate Michael Black in the masters A/B race which was scheduled for 8:40am, So, kids packed and out the door at about 6:30. I went into the A/B race without nearly as much of a warm-up as I would have liked but...

Both Garage and BRI were well represented. Cucina had good representation as well including, myself, Larry B., Trevor H., Andy J., Michael Black, Chris A.?, (anyone I am missing??). The attacks were furious and intended more to soften the legs of the competition than actually result in a successful breakaway. That means of course, Garage and BRI were the teams primary attacking. Rididng for Blackness meant I was one of the guys in the role of chasing breaks and that I did. The toughest chase came with about 4 to go. I don't remember who we were chasing, I think a couple BRI guys, but a few of us Cucinas worked our tails off reeling the thing back in. Feeling somewhat hammered after the catch I settled back into the mix for a lap and moved my way back up at corner 4 and found Blackness, who had moved up front again coming into the last lap. Somewhere along the way he and Larry got on my wheel. Coming into corner 3 we were 9-10-11 and I went ouside thinking I could pick us up a number of spots only to have the door closed as a rider bocked the outside line. I certainly should have moved up sooner. Into the sprint finish every position remained the same. myself- 9th Blackness- 10th and Larry B. 11th. Being this was only my 2nd crit of the year I do have to admit my crit instincts are feeling a bit rusty.

After I raced it was Kat's turn. This was just her sond race since Luka was born 9 months ago. She had an absoulute blast but was pulled about halfway through the race. Her real focus at this point is just to get some intensity in as she is ramping up for her first season of racing 'cross! My wife is amazing BTW!

After some tentativeness I decided to register for the Men's 3 race. I was a bit hesitant because there were a number of crashes in the A/B race and I am really focused on the Master's B BARR this year and with the State TT coming up this weekend I didn't want to jeapordize my real goals. Nonetheless, I could not resist. About 20 min before the race I saw a couple Cucinas, Chris M. and Matt H. and they were both turned away at registration because the race had filled up (only 60 riders for a Cat 3 race??). Anyway, they were #2 and #3 on the wait list. After talking with a couple other teammates who had already raced we decided to give up our spots so that they could race. In the end however, the head official decided not to allow it so unfortunately Chris and Matt were relegated to the cheering section.

The race itself was about exactly the same pace as the A/B race. The same tactics were also at hand. The only real noticeable difference was the A/B race was much smoother. I will admit that my legs did not feel as peppy as they did in the A/B race but they were okay. To make a long story short, I primarily hung in the group and did VERY little chasing. My race basically came to an end when there was a crash on corner #4 with 4 laps to go. A number of teammates went down, I was basically the first row of people to avoid going down but was hung-up enough to put an end to my chances. I chased with a teammate for a couple laps but got back on just in time for the pace to quicken for the last lap. I was toast so just cruised the last lap. As far as I know everyone made it through the crash with just some road-rash.

Noah's race was next. He is 3 almost 4 by the way. He was very ready to go! While helping him to the finish he made sure to tell me he did not need me to run with him any more. I obliged, kinda, running primarily on the sidewalk. He was focused and spinning his little legs as fast as they would go, made a solo half-lap smiling to a cheering crowd that was already lining up for the upcoming parade. He proudly received his ribbon and rode over to his mommy and brother with shouts of excitement.

Overall, it was a great day!