Saturday, May 08, 2010

Joe Martin Stage Race Stage 3

Stage 3 of the Joe Martin Stage race was 92 miles. We rode 12 miles out to a loop of 23 miles. We did the 23 mile loop 3 times and rode the 13 miles back to Fayetteville for the finish. After we turned on to the loop there was about 2 miles of rolling uphill to the feed zone, then about 2 more miles of false flat after the feedzone. The loop was rolling with some downhill after the top of the false flat. I stayed hydrated and did not have any cramps today thanks to my Ion Competition drink mix. Each time up the feedzone climb I tried my best to stay with the group. The last time up the false flat with about 1 mile to go I was very anaerobic and came off the back of the
group. I tried to draft the caravan for that last mile and try to regain contact but over the top of the false flat the field was probably riding at about 60 kilometers per hour, so chasing back on once cracked was a near impossible task. I rode in to the finish as hard as I could and a Mountain Khakis rider caught me and towed me to the finish. Today I made the time cut. Tomorrow is a 90' technical crit with 12 turns. My Ion- United Healthcare teammate Spencer Gaddy made it over the climbs easily to finish in the main group today.

Joe Martin Stage Race Stage 2

Yesterday was the second stage of the Joe Martin Stage Race. It was about 110 miles and had 3 climbs. The final climb was 9 miles long but not too steep. There were also lots of rolling hills. During the beginning of the stage I made sure to hydrate well with my Ion Competition drink and eat a lot of food to prevent bonking. On each of the climbs my hamstrings would cramp because my lack of climbing fitness. I had to push just hard enough to not cramp. Up the first two climbs I managed to make it back on to the group. Over the last climb I made it over with a group of five and made it to the finish about 25 minutes down on the bunch and made the time cut. My Ion- United Healthcare teammate Spencer Gaddy made the front group to finish in 62 place. He thought the day was relatively easy. Hopefully I can hydrate and eat a lot today and feel better on this stage and Spencer can feel as good as he did yesterday. Today is a 92 mile road race with more hills.

Friday, May 07, 2010

Joe Martin Stage Race TT

Yesterday was the time trial for the Joe Martin Stage Race. The course was flat for about 300 to 500 meters and uphill at about 6% for the next 3.5 kilometers. I got in a good warm-up and hydrated well with my Ion Competition drink mix. I started off a bit too hard on the flat part and was anaerobic before the climb began. I tried to recover from going anaerobic but it just was not happening up the climb. I pushed hard to the top to finish with a time of 9:47 and 122 place. My Ion-United Healthcare teammate Spencer Gaddy did a little better than me with a time of 9:32 at 113th place. The time trial was won by my former teammate Andrew Talansky. He did a time of 7:54. He really lit up the course and did an awesome ride. Today is a 106 mile road race with rolling terrain and a 9 mile climb. Hopefully we can get someone in a breakaway today if we feel good.