So after the unplanned trip to Rome, I had to find the motivation to be ready for racing the following day. It was the most nonchalant I've been going into a race I can remember in awhile: no massage the day before, long travel, off routine, a call with the credit card company prerace because our card had become fraudulent, etc. It was just a normal race morning! Without thinking about all that though, I went to the start and got right into it. I tried for some breakaways and was just having fun. It took a good while for the break to go, but it was kind of fun actually to have it take awhile. The race never really slowed down once the break was gone though. By the end of the day we had done the 192km in under 4.5hrs. The critical point of the race was the 20km finishing circuit that included a fairly steep 5km climb. The first time up I was in good position and feeling pretty decent, but I came unglued in the last few hundred meters. It was a hard pill to swallow, but I fought as hard as I could. I just didn't have the legs to go with. I finished the race up and prepared myself for Lombardia.
Lombardia was yesterday and it didn't go as I had hoped. The start was fast as usual and it took 60km for the break to finally go. I was in a couple moves, but they never really materialized. After the first big climb and descent we went into the feedzone and some attacks began again. I followed a couple moves and was nearly into one, but I couldn't drive it with a teammate in one of the moves up the road. The move with Jan in it did stay away for a bit, but the pace in the field was immediately increased by the teams who had missed the move and had ambitions for the race. I was happy to follow wheels and try to save as much energy as possible. As we neared the next crucial point in the race I was staying near the front, but we came into a town where the street narrowed and a crash happened. I ended up being mixed up in the action and went to the ground. By the time I was able to get untangled, gather myself, get my flat tire changed, and get going again, it was too late. The race was going way to fast for me to ever come back. I tried to chase for a bit, but I had to submit to the truth after some time. I rode to the finish defeated again by Lombardia. I have never been able to successfully finish Lombardia, but I will finish it before I retire!
I am now on my way to China for Tour of Beijing. I'll do what I can to post and update from there. Thanks for checking in again.
Lombardia was yesterday and it didn't go as I had hoped. The start was fast as usual and it took 60km for the break to finally go. I was in a couple moves, but they never really materialized. After the first big climb and descent we went into the feedzone and some attacks began again. I followed a couple moves and was nearly into one, but I couldn't drive it with a teammate in one of the moves up the road. The move with Jan in it did stay away for a bit, but the pace in the field was immediately increased by the teams who had missed the move and had ambitions for the race. I was happy to follow wheels and try to save as much energy as possible. As we neared the next crucial point in the race I was staying near the front, but we came into a town where the street narrowed and a crash happened. I ended up being mixed up in the action and went to the ground. By the time I was able to get untangled, gather myself, get my flat tire changed, and get going again, it was too late. The race was going way to fast for me to ever come back. I tried to chase for a bit, but I had to submit to the truth after some time. I rode to the finish defeated again by Lombardia. I have never been able to successfully finish Lombardia, but I will finish it before I retire!
I am now on my way to China for Tour of Beijing. I'll do what I can to post and update from there. Thanks for checking in again.
3 comments:
It's nice to hear you're still having fun out there sometimes! :) Good luck in China!
just keep going and one day you'll defeat and conquer mr.lombardia down and bring him to submission. Good luck in China.
Thanks for the updates. The season must be feeling long at this point. Best of luck in China!
Post a Comment