First race after a long winter, ouch

[FastforaSlowGuy]

I am definitely not in race shape. It's been a tough winter, and the past month has been especially tough to stay mentally focused. I can ride through the cold of January, and sit on the trainer through February, but ramping up the riding intensity, doing it entirely on the trainer, and simultaneously dealing with seemingly endless snow, just really bogs me down.

Well, yesterday's crit (the only event in New England that was NOT canceled due to crap roads) was an ugly event. A local team went to the front, shredded the field in minutes, and my race (along with nearly everyone else's) ended very early. Still fun, and I kept the rubber down. Good motivation to get my head back in the game, and lay off the cookies.

[shovelhd]

Sounds like the Beanpot. We raced yesterday in New Britain, so there was more than one race going in New England. I spent two hours with the promoter spreading ice melt to get rid of the black ice.

[SlowPokePete]

Sounds like the Beanpot. We raced yesterday in New Britain, so there was more than one race going in New England. I spent two hours with the promoter spreading ice melt to get rid of the black ice.

I heard about that ... how long until the race finally got underway?

SPP

[shovelhd]

2:35. The back of my Sportwagen is covered with salt. Hey, it needed a wash anyway :)

[FastforaSlowGuy]

Sounds like the Beanpot. We raced yesterday in New Britain, so there was more than one race going in New England. I spent two hours with the promoter spreading ice melt to get rid of the black ice.

Glad to hear it (the racing, not the ice). I heard the ice was bad down there so assumed it was canceled. Nothing says spring racing like ice melt!

[sandyrs]

I ended up skipping Tufts because I drove the course the day before on my way to a friend's and got (probably unjustifiably) spooked by the road conditions. I watched a bit of the 4/5 on my way back from the ride I took instead. That field was so strung out 20 minutes into the race- yikes. Not surprised to see GLV being GLV. Good on those two riders for being strong so early in the season.

Are you doing Chris Hinds? That's my planned first race of the season. The forecast is calling for rain in the morning.

[shovelhd]

I'm racing for the NEMCA jersey this year and Chris Hinds is the first race on the calendar. I'll be doing the M50+ and M40+ back to back.

[carpediemracing]

I felt really bad when I spilled the first few pellets of calcium chloride onto the back of shovel's pristine wagon. After spreading 150 lbs (we spread 100+ lbs manually before shovel offered to drive us around) I have to admit I was a bit numbed to messing up his car because I'd messed it up so much.

City salted the course first thing. DPW left a truck with a full load of salt for the park guys. Then after the salt melted the stuff on the ground (helped with judicious application of the high end stuff I brought) the park guys used two tractors fitted with blowers to clear the course. Incredible support from the city.

An Italian deli opened up just for the race. I hope they did okay, they sell really good food. Post race food, realistically, as it's rich Italian food, but wow, good stuff. I didn't get a chance to try a breakfast sandwich but those tend to be good pre-race food for me.

New Britain / Aetna Nutmeg Spring Series - At about 7:00 AM everything that was dark on pavement was black ice. Actually there was a puddle on the left side of the course. 22 or 24 degrees or something like that.
https://scontent-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/q86/s720x720/11079522_10153237686258824_6989891115743781570_n.j pg?oh=11921d87b0fb695f89072388e62dfd12&oe=55A41201

At 10:30 AM or so the sun, salt, etc had burned off most of the moisture. 32 deg?
https://scontent-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/18099_10153237990628824_8175115187153791875_n.jpg? oh=bd34d44e54aa24bda34dbad72917b1d5&oe=55B8DE37

I think I left my phone in the tow vehicle so I don't have access to some of the other pictures. Course was 100% fine during the races. I didn't race, didn't feel like it, I didn't realize just how sick I was until I got home. Shaking uncontrollably due to fever. I've been sick for a few weeks now, didn't realize I was sick (I just figured it was me being tired from race related stuff). It explains why I felt so off during the races on the 15th and 22nd. I hope to be okay by April 12th.

I may head down to Chris Hinds, I want to support the promoter Jon, but I don't know if schedule-wise it's feasible. I'll have to take Junior with me, if I can find someone to look after him at the race it should be okay. If I'm still sick I won't go.

[sandyrs]

I'm racing for the NEMCA jersey this year and Chris Hinds is the first race on the calendar. I'll be doing the M50+ and M40+ back to back.

Good luck. I'm a 4 so I doubt we'll be toeing the line together any time soon, but I suspect FastForASlowGuy and I will have some overlap this year.

[shovelhd]

You can still say hello :). Pm me if you are interested.

[FastforaSlowGuy]

I've got my eye on Chris Hinds, but it's low probability. I'm supposed to be at a family event in Providence at 2pm, so if I race then my wife will have to come along. Getting her excited about a 5am wakeup so she can watch an 8am bike race is going to be super, duper tough ... especially when the reward is an afternoon with her in-laws.

[redir]

I didn't even bother going to my local spring classic this weekend. I've been running all winter instead of riding. I just can't get out in the cold any more. I noticed at this particular race too that the attendance was WAY down. The cat 4 and 5 fields usually fill up within minutes of online registration opening and there were plenty of spots still open on race day.