Even though he's changed teams, moved up an age group and come back from a killer wreck, he's still MetLifeGuy. And still damn fast. photo: B. CassidyBy this time in 2008 I'd already raced several times but everything I'd planned to do in early April was canceled so the Cherry Valley 30K was my first event for the 2009 season. The weather did not disappoint - it rained pretty much the entire day and the wind was definitely a factor in the misery and dampness. A huge thank you has to go out to the ABR organizing crew and Team RVO for making the event happen - they marshaled the corners, managed registration, and made sure the course was safe for everyone.
The morning started pretty early after a night of insomnia. MetLifeGuy retrieved me at dark-o'clock - he had an early start time for the first of his two tt's. I was warming up when he came back to the car after finishing the first one and got a pretty good idea of what was in store for me - serious shivering and frozen coldness. Fortunately we snagged some sheltered area for warm up - it made for a much better pre-race routine. The course in Cherry Valley is out-and-back and pretty much flat with a couple turns, some chip-and-seal pavement and a set of railroad tracks to cross twice. It's especially nice when the pavement is dry...
I had a good warm-up but wasn't feeling any of my usual pre-race nervousness and anxiety. My attitude was more like, "just get it over with" when I headed out at 11:01. I didn't really ease into any sort of rhythm until i was 2/3 of the way finished and was generally uncomfortable most of the time, probably because it was difficult to see through my fogged eyewear and I felt like I was fighting to keep my bike going straight through the wind. About the bike - it was my first race on the Cervelo and I LOVE IT!! I still might need to do a bit of dialing in on my position but the ride is sweeeeeet!
We headed out before seeing all the results because I was frozen (my lips were blue!) and didn't feel like hanging around. Based on what we saw posted, Mike won his age group and had a high finish in the P1/2. Some other PACT/Dishnetwork teammates were also there and did well - I'll update this post when the final results are posted. At the moment I don't know what my result was - I only know that based on what my power meter file shows my time was faster than what was the fastest women's time on the day when we left. It is entirely possible that the official timing is different - we'll see...
It was good to see and catch up with Mike Wakeley - he's riding my old Blue TT bike and has pimped it out quite nicely with Red and a set of Zipps. He's a strong cyclocross racer, an ace mechanic and a really great guy - not to mention an aspiring time trialist. Mike, I hope to see you often on the TT circuit this season - be sure to bring your biceps!
Up next, the Single Bong 20K in Wisco on Sunday. I'm planning to do two races which makes it a 'double single bong.' Or something. As of right now the weather will be dry and warm - a very welcome change. I'll take some pictures next time - I totally forgot to bust out the camera in Cherry Valley. Here's a link to some YouTube video from the day.
UPDATE: Final results have been posted and can be found here. PACT/Dish Network had a great showing on an unpleasant day. Nicely done, gentlemen.
The morning started pretty early after a night of insomnia. MetLifeGuy retrieved me at dark-o'clock - he had an early start time for the first of his two tt's. I was warming up when he came back to the car after finishing the first one and got a pretty good idea of what was in store for me - serious shivering and frozen coldness. Fortunately we snagged some sheltered area for warm up - it made for a much better pre-race routine. The course in Cherry Valley is out-and-back and pretty much flat with a couple turns, some chip-and-seal pavement and a set of railroad tracks to cross twice. It's especially nice when the pavement is dry...
I had a good warm-up but wasn't feeling any of my usual pre-race nervousness and anxiety. My attitude was more like, "just get it over with" when I headed out at 11:01. I didn't really ease into any sort of rhythm until i was 2/3 of the way finished and was generally uncomfortable most of the time, probably because it was difficult to see through my fogged eyewear and I felt like I was fighting to keep my bike going straight through the wind. About the bike - it was my first race on the Cervelo and I LOVE IT!! I still might need to do a bit of dialing in on my position but the ride is sweeeeeet!
We headed out before seeing all the results because I was frozen (my lips were blue!) and didn't feel like hanging around. Based on what we saw posted, Mike won his age group and had a high finish in the P1/2. Some other PACT/Dishnetwork teammates were also there and did well - I'll update this post when the final results are posted. At the moment I don't know what my result was - I only know that based on what my power meter file shows my time was faster than what was the fastest women's time on the day when we left. It is entirely possible that the official timing is different - we'll see...
It was good to see and catch up with Mike Wakeley - he's riding my old Blue TT bike and has pimped it out quite nicely with Red and a set of Zipps. He's a strong cyclocross racer, an ace mechanic and a really great guy - not to mention an aspiring time trialist. Mike, I hope to see you often on the TT circuit this season - be sure to bring your biceps!
Up next, the Single Bong 20K in Wisco on Sunday. I'm planning to do two races which makes it a 'double single bong.' Or something. As of right now the weather will be dry and warm - a very welcome change. I'll take some pictures next time - I totally forgot to bust out the camera in Cherry Valley. Here's a link to some YouTube video from the day.
UPDATE: Final results have been posted and can be found here. PACT/Dish Network had a great showing on an unpleasant day. Nicely done, gentlemen.
