Harrisburg Half, Race #2

Yesterday's race was pretty much outstanding. On the first three laps, I was hanging in really well with the leader (one of the Pro Health Insurance team riders), and I watched how he was having some difficulty on the singletrack descent. The two of us had initiated a gap from the other riders on each climb and I was feeling really strong. I took over the lead on the start of the fourth lap, and pushed the pace just a little bit in the singletrack to test him out. At the base of the descent, I had a small gap that I pushed even bigger on the clear-cut field section before the climb. In two laps, the gap to second grew to 40 seconds, and I held that gap for the next 7-8 laps. With about 15 minutes to go I started getting worried about making mistakes hitting my marks in the dark. The light is good and all, but when you get tired, it's really hard to maintain the speed and the control. I backed off for the last 4 laps just enough to hold onto the lead by 9 seconds. Once I got out of the dangerous section (one of the other riders broke his wrist on a crash in our class last night -- that was pretty gruesome to see), I put the hammer down for the finish. It's been a lot of years since I've had a win, and this one was a hard fought effort. It's also my first win on dirt.

Right after the finish I started yacking for the next five minutes or so, and I'm really glad there wasn't anything on my stomach except for a PowerBar and some Gatorade. At least this time it was real Gatorade and not the fashion-conscious look-alike. Both quads were on the verge of cramping afterwards, but thankfully that didn't happen.

The power conditioning that you guys have done for me has been a huge factor in the success as has the diet. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I thought you all would like to share in the successful weekend with me, so I'm throwing a bonus of 10 points onto my side of the Quantifiable Results section of the grading for the semester. Nice work! If you have any questions about that, drop me a note. Your work with me has put me in position to be tied for first overall in the series, and you deserve some credit for it. Thanks to the Harrell's Bicycle World racing team for the support and training at Harbison, and thanks to you guys for all the help with the workouts and the diet. You did really well. Whatever the mile time and the 100-yd sprint times are, this result means a huge deal to me.

Total calories: 1188

Tomorrow is the medical test at the doctor's office. As soon as I get the results faxed to me, I'll let you know, so you can pick up a copy. Watch the blog for details about the final analysis paper.