Dunnigan, Giro Di San Francisco, and Burning Out

I figured I should post something about my past few races or whatever. To say the least, I'm burnt out. At one point I didn't even want to ride my bike. In fact, I wanted it to go play in traffic. I told this to my coach and he gave me two weeks off the bike. I ran and went to the gym so I didn't become a huge fat kid.

I raced Dunnigan Hills 6 days after my crash at Fast and Furious. Was it smart? No. But I wanted to get that first race post-crash out of the way. The race was fine, nothing really exciting happened, until I couldn't use my left foot at 10 miles to go. I was basically pedaling with just one leg. I couldn't put any weight on it and at one point I thought that I had gotten a stress fracture. I stayed with the group, but I didn't sprint. Asa helped me hobble back to the truck and we left. I looked at the results and it said I DNP, to which I e-mailed the promoter and asked about the mistake. I didn't hear back from them for a week, when all of a sudden I get an e-mail from the chief official, telling me that I got 9th place. Cool. They fixed it. Not bad for only pedaling with one leg and not sprinting, eh?

Giro Di San Francisco:

Photo by Alex Chiu. 

 The Giro... oh man. I was a nervous wreck for that race. This was the first post-crash crit, and it's a decently technical course with a hill. I didn't sleep well at all the night before the race. A friend was nice enough to call me and give me some tips on the race, which calmed me down some, but I was still nervous. 

We got up at 4 freakin' AM and headed to the race. That was awesome. Especially since I didn't get much sleep because I was freaking out and because one of the cats loves to open and slam cupboard doors. Whatever, cat. I also had another cat decide that my butt was really comfortable so she slept on it. Awesome. I know I have a big ass but dude. Oh well. 

Anyway, we got to the race after two and a half hours of being in the truck. We registered, changed, warmed up, etc. I went for a few warm up laps and my bike was shifting very poorly. Crap. Where's that bike mechanic I need to start dating? 10 minutes before the race and I realized that my cable was too effin' tight to adjust. Okay. Frank helped me a bit and we got it as good as it was going to get before the race. Oh well. I did a few laps and got used to that shitty shifting and went on with the race. 

Photo by Alex Chiu. 

The hill in this course wasn't bad at all. It's the kind of hill that I'm able to power up. The difference this time? I'm now on a standard crank instead of my compact. I'm really liking the standard, but sometimes I just wish I had that little extra give when I'm climbing a tough hill.

I was pretty cautious in the turns. I didn't take many risks as I usually do because I was pretty nervous. I also had just ended that two-week break from the bike, so I was getting back into the swing of things. I sprinted for a prime and got it, which was pretty cool. Tamara also got a prime as did Asa. So we all went home with stuff. I like stuff.

The race was uneventful, really. I was just nervous, Tamara was super strong, etc. That was her third crit ever so it was awesome to see her race so strong.

Photo by Alex Chiu. 

Last lap and I'm ready for the race to be over. I got a bit more comfortable with my cornering but I always had that doubt; I didn't want to crash again. It amazes me at how nervous I was. I didn't think that the crash had affected me so much, but it did, and while I know it's normal, it's very frustrating.

I was in the back on the last lap but got to the front in on the back side of the course. I lost too much energy on the last two corners because I didn't pedal through, mostly because I was being extremely reserved in the turns. I sprinted and crossed the line in 7th place. So, I got a prime and top 10 on my first post-crash crit. I wasn't too upset about that.

Photo by Alex Chiu. 

 I'll eventually get over the cornering. I'm getting a bit more comfortable. My next and last race of the season is going to be the the Placer Valley Grand Prix, being hosted by LeadOut Racing. Come out, race, heckle, and enjoy the beer garden!

I won't lie; I'm looking forward to an off season.