August 2011, the month of awful

It is amazing how not riding your bike because you are tired all the time from work can affect your bike racing ability, this was most exemplified in 4 races I did from July 31 to August 10.

July 31, Norwell Circuit Race

Let's see, I went down to the race, hadn't ridden at all in a week and thought I could totally hang out, then I realized I had signed up for a P/1/2/3 race and I have no watts. So, after about 1/2 the race I got dropped, then I waited to get lapped, rode in the field for 2 more laps and then gave up, which was great.

August 3, Gran Prix of Beverly

After my stellar result on Sunday, I thought it'd be a good idea to do a notoriously fast 6 (or 5) corner Criterium on Wednesday because I'm smart. So I registered, got to the line, and did a genius thing which was start in the last row. Then we started and went real fast, which was fun, especially since I like corners. I would rail the corner and stay seated while the dudes in front of me would sprint and I could just barely hold a wheel. I continued to do this and survived the initial "let's get shelled out the back" train and I soon found my self in DA BACK, which was not a good place to be. I was tailgunning like a boss just behind a dude and hoping for dear life not to get dropped.

At this point I was enjoying my suffering a-plenty when the guy in front of me gave up, by which I mean, the field was lined out, and we were the last 2 guys in the field and he took his hands of the the bars and sat up. I was like "SERIOUSLY DUDE?" and tried to sprint around him to get back on the field, and almost got there, but couldn't close the gap. Then I got DROPPED and rode off the back for a while and got pulled.

Awesome.

After the race I had dinner and found that my teammates did this to my bike, because they love me:

August 7, Hodges Village Dam

I had big plans for Hodges Village Dam, I'd be doing a moutain bike race, in a rainstorm, on a really technical course, and I wanted to win the 2011 Hebrew Cup MTB championship against Uri and Ian. When I got to the race two things happened: first, it stopped raining, second, it got really really hot and humid. GREAT. Then, when the race started I tried to win the holeshot, which was a less than stellar idea and I started to blow up. That was rad. I then suffered immensely for 3 laps of technical mountain biking in steam-room like weather and finished 10th, losing the Hebrew Cup handily.

August 10, Witches Cup

I actually thought I could do well at the Witches Cup. I really, truly did. I got a second row start, messed up a little and then hung out in the field for like half the race while we went really fast. Then there was a crash, and I had to do a huge acceleration to stay in the field. This was my undoing, and a few laps later out the back I went. That sucked. Then I was sad, had a beer and decided to retire from road racing for the season, because getting dropped all the time was getting upsetting.

When does cyclocross season start?