Blood, Sweat and Gears

Blood:
Saturday was the Mankato road race, as well as amateur criterium races. Brett, Dan, Drew and I headed down after fueling up with some coffee. The race was 4/5s, women and juniors, with the 1/2/3/4 race afterward. The course was 1.2 mile-ish, flat, fast and L-shaped. I lined up in the front row with a bunch of juniors. I decided to stay a bit back from them, but things sorted themselves out pretty quickly. Apparently with all the people starting bunched in by the barriers, gaps formed immediately as people struggled to clip in, while those of us lined up at the start could take off quickly. Being at the front allowed us to choos our lines through all the corners, so we were lapping women about 1/3 of the way through the race. There was a slight descent then a right turn coming into the start/finish. I was moving up by pedaling through the corners, so I was taking the outside lines, but unfortunately that would get me pressed up near the curb coming out of the turn. Maybe halfway through the race I got pressed out pretty far in the corner and, carrying probably too much speed put me into the curb. Fortunately I was already braking and on the outside when I saw the line I was stuck with and didn't take anyone else down and wasn't going too fast when I crashed. The curb flipped the bike onto its left side, so the drivetrain was spared and all I ended up with was some glarly road rash and a crooked seat post. I tried to jump back into the race, but I was shaking and sore, so I headed over to the medical tent and cheered on the rest of the team. I was very frustrated though because I was really riding strong and had a good chance to do something at this race. :-(
__DS, Skidsy and Owen raced in the 1/2/3/4 race, and DS was at the front of the peloton, so I was hoping to get some good pictures on the last lap, but unfortunately we saw a very unhappy DS carring his Pro Machine with a taco'd wheel, mutter about idiots being allowed to race. He headed straight for the BMC and Freewheel tents, and it turned out the the top tube near the head tube appeared to be cracked.
__We stayed for the end of the road races, then had a little BBQ at Sascha's. Brett brought Olive over to tease the cat, Drew provided the always awesome recovery beer, and Dan brought some yummy salmon burgers and barbequing expertise.
Sweat:
Sunday was hot. I feel for the racers climbing Chilkoot every lap in the heat, but as always it was an exciting race to watch. The heat wasn't too bad though since Freewheel sponsors the yellow jersey and BMC sponsors the Most Aggressive Rider jersey we had tents with food and barbeque and drinks to relax in. I drove in order to make it for the amateur uphill time trial, and Sascha took my car to swim at Square Lake while we watched the Stillwater Criterium.
Gears:
The amateur race was a 400 meter time trial straight up Chilkoot, and I was very excited for this race. I like to think of myself as a climber, so I was looking forward to seeing how well I would do, especially since I totally suck at regular time trials. They were sending two riders up at a time at 30 second intervals. Drew and I lined up together, and I took off strong. The climb didn't start until maybe 50 meters up the road, so I was in a higher gear to get a good running start up the hill. Of course then the hill suddenly pitches straight up, so torquing with everything I had I started shifting down when suddenly I ground the drivetrain to a halt while shifting under the load. This really really sucked because I was really tearing up the hill at the time. Of course at that pitch I almost fell over once the bike stopped, so it was all over. Skibby took mercy on me and gave me a push once I got back on the bike. Although it didn't cost me anything, I was sad to have two potentially awesome races in a row horked up. :-(
__All was not lost, though, as I got the best seat in the house at the Chilkoot hill for the men's race. Walking down to meet up with my teammates after sending Sascha on her way to swim, I noticed a perch with a great view over people's heads where I could sit and be in the shade. The Stillwater crit is an immensely exciting race, mainly because of this brutally steep, yet very short climb that wears the racers down every lap and allows for excellent European-style spectating for the fans. We're close enough to see the pain on their faces as they power up this hill every lap! Overall it was a jam-packed weekend of everything bike racing, and it was a blast!