2012 Race Report #1

Not going to go too in to my Barry-Roubaix race for a few reasons.

1. I plan to write more on the race for XXC Magazine.
2. Thinking too much about my finish makes me want to suck on the barrel of a .45.

Finally the first race of the year came. Actually it came up on me super freaking quick. One day I'm bitching about my sore as hell shoulder and arm, the next day I'm thinking "OH SHIT I GOTTA RACE NEXT WEEK!!" Well next week came and I am now glad it went.

The Barry-Roubaix is an great race, put on by a great guy (Rick Plite) and is a great way to kick off the race season. Fitness wise I felt pretty good, having just come off a 14 hour week the week before. All of those 14 hours, plus the 7 I did this week were in some pretty stellar weather on top my CX bike (minus ONE road ride on the road bike). As luck would have it heavy rains and downpours moved in to the Grand Rapids area on Friday. I had the Jake CX bike loaded and ready to go, but now I just sat looking at the red and yellow blobs covering the Yankee Springs area and thought "I don't believe this! The road are going to be mud pits. I'm moving to the mountain bike!"

As I stood on the start line for the 62 mile race it looked like it was me and about 5 other guys on mountain bikes. The race started and I shot out the back of the group like a greased up turd out the ass of a goose.

So at the .25 mile mark I set out on 61.75 mile solo gravel ride/race. My goal was 4 hours or less. I did it in 4:05. I don't think that's too bad. What IS bad is that 4:05 in the Men's Open at the Barry-Roubaix gets you 195th place out of 217 racers. My bod felt good, my bike ran well, my nutrition was spot-on (CarboRocket is da best!!), I was just slow. Now I am not even a mid-pack racers... I am a back of the pack racer.

I knew going in that the CX bike would be THEEE bike to use. The mud changed my mind. Sadly the roads were not all that bad. I'm a fucking idiot. I hate racing. I love racing. I hate loving racing. For the life of me I can't figure out why I race. Because if one thing is apparent after 8+ years of doing this... I'm pretty fucking bad at it.

Having said all that... I'm probably racing the Lowell 50 gravel grinder next Saturday. I hate myself.

I leave you with this year's season theme song...



Later.