Wednesday, September 8, 2010

The sweet isn't as sweet without the sour. . .

After a disappointing pinch flat ended my Stoney Creek TT less than two miles from the finish line needless to say I was rather upset, and didn't want my season to end on a sour note. Over the last nine months or so I have put in a lot of hard work and dealt with the ups and downs of racing but I believed that I could stretch the season out just a couple more weeks to include Deep Blue.

Part of me wanted to end the season, it was a long first season, 29 races, I thought I did decently well, I mean after all my goal going into March was just to get at least 10 mass starts to be able to upgrade to Cat 4 by next year. It seemed liked every other day my decision would change to do Deep Blue, yes one day, no the next. About a week before the race I found out we were going to have family come up Labor Day weekend, then with a last minute cancellation because of hurricane Earl I suddenly had a slim opening to be able to make the trek out to Delaware for a short TT.

A few days in advanced I was looking at the forecast, it was suppose to be a perfect day for racing, contrasting the May Deep Blue, with steady 25mph winds and gusts up to 40mph with a high of 55. Although the morning did start out a little chilly compared to previous in the week, once the sun rose the temps were right there with it, the wind did pick up some, I believe it was out of the West, but again nothing like May.

After getting registered and everything ready I went for my warm up, a 45 minute ride around the town, in and out of the wind, which the 100mm front wheel made a little interesting at times. I began to feel the affects of my leg openers the day before, not sure if it could be considered a leg opener when the entire two hour ride was just under zone 4. . . whoops but I was feeling good.

I get back to the car, change my helmet, shirt and head to the start line. I arrived as scheduled and was ready to go, now only if I don't have any mishaps, wheel rubbing, flat tires, etc. My time arrives, I get clipped in and await the signal. Every time trial I have done this year has been nice enough to have a person holding the bike up for the start, sometimes its the little things that matter, plus it takes one less worry out of starting, getting clipped in in a timely fashion.

I start off, a quick sprint then I am down on the aero bars, I start to settle into a good rhythm. I know the course fairly well and knew when to expect the bridges and turns so I kept an eye on the miles and when the turns were so I knew when to push harder at the end or when the suffering was almost done.

Being a Cat 3 I wasn't expecting to catch any of my 30 second riders in front of me, completely different compared a Cat 4 but I was pleasantly shocked when I was catching up to him right before the turn around. I was able to see him the distance well before hand but I really started closing in on the little descent at the turn around. After the turn, he sprints up the hill, part of me wanted to catch and pass him, but I kept in my zone, and raced my race. I eventually caught him, after feeling some strong gusts from the West approaching him I made sure I passed with plenty of room so there wouldn't be any surprises.

After that I just saw the miles start ticking down, just like I told Luis, after the turn around the race is over before you know it. I planned one last long effort just after the right hand turn back on Rt 9. I really started pushing here, heart rate was finally starting to rise and the pain was coming, I came to the last couple bends and just kept my head down and focused. I passed the finish line, pressed the stop button, I had no idea of my time, but my garmin said Course Complete, You win, in reference to my previous time on this course, which wasn't good at all so who knows where I sat overall.

I didn't get much of a cool down, in fact I basically went directly to the car, and got changed. I talked to Luis and Phil for a few moments before quickly leaving. In the past results always took their time at Deep Blue and not really thrilled with my performance other than happy I had no mechanical errors to blame it on I left thinking I didn't place too well.

After being on the road for about 15 minutes and almost on 95, I get a call from Luis who informs me I won, my time 24:45. Needless to say I was freaking thrilled, and big props for Luis staying for the results, I really appreciated it.

The sweet isn't as sweet without the sour. Not sure who first said that phrase, but I remember it from the the movie Vanilla Sky, and its odd how true it is. Without failure one may never know how to truly appreciate success. Its been a hell of a season, part of me is sad to see it end, but part of me is amazed at what I have accomplished personally. It wasn't all glory, there were plenty of disappointing moments but in the end it was a sweet finish.

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