The Day After

One to go...That is what the official said as I turned the corner for the stretch into the lasat lap of the first cross race of the season. Overall, I was feeling pretty good. I had settled into a good rythem and started to think ahead of what I could do better for the next race. Team Lake Effect members met on Saturday to set up the course at Wendy Park in Cleveland, Ohio. We spent about 4 hours laying the tape out and putting up flags. Jeff Craft brought a leaf blower and cleared away a lot of glass and stones that were on the course. The park is the site of an old dump so you have a lot of broken glass! Sunday started early, 6am to be exact. I had some coffee and left to get Jeff and head to the race. We finished all the detail setup and then at noon the C racers went off. They had a great group with first timers and juniors. It is really fun to watch the kids. Next year will be Roberts turn! Our race had over 70 participants so the start was going to be rough and rough it was. I did not get the best position and got caught behind a lot of riders going thru the first few turns. I regained a few spots and just rode my race. I made a few errors in the lines I took and had a few shifting errors but overall it was just good to get the kinks out. That's it for now.

The Hills are ALIVE

Took off today from East Liverpool and wanted to get some hill work in. The one bad thing about Fort Wayne is that there are not many hills so I am really lacking in that part of my training. Left and headed north on route 7 and ended up in Boardman. Stopped at a Pilot and refueled with Gatorade and then headed back south. Got in just shy of 50 miles. The ride was good but the hills were killing me on the way home. Some of the hills are 15-16 percent grades. Now I know this is not a big deal for you out west or even up along Lake Erie but trust me when you have been training in an area where the biggest grade is 5% it sucks. Oh well. Made it back in one piece and then got to have corn on the cob, hamburgers, hotdogs and visit with family. One more day here in Ohio and plans are to hit West Branch early and then head home mid-day. The first cross race is now less than a week away. They are calling for rain so it should be fun!

Some MTB and some trainer

Well the first cross race is a little over a week away so I thought it was time to get the mountain bike out today and do some bike handling. I had a few early appointments in North Webster so after I headed to Winona Lake and the MTB trails. I have never ridden there and I must say it is a great area. I did a few loops and then headed home to finish the day. Nancy left late afternoon to meet her running group tonight so I put the road bike on the trainer and did an interval workout.
Getting ready to head back to Ohio after Robert gets out of school tomorrow and I will be taking a few bikes with me. On Saturday Nancy will be running a half marathon in Youngstown (good luck, I know you will do great) and then Sunday I am heading up to West Brach State Park to ride the MTB and then some hill training Monday. Looks like another busy weekend!