Justin Wilson and I (Curtis Grace, your self designated narrator for the next 3 months) are in Gainesville, Florida for the University of Florida Swamp Classic. UA Huntsville's Cycling Team started the season with an Individual Time Trial this morning in Archer, FL; about 15 miles outside of Gainesville.
First, a few things.
1) It is Florida and the high today was only 58. This is very disappointing.
2) In addition to the relatively cool temperature, we had the pleasure of racing with a 15-20mph wind which was conveniently blowing towards us on our return trip in the ITT. More on that later.
3) Gainesville is a great town, and I would have to rank it in the top 5 college towns
4) Michael Boyco (who is hosting us for the weekend) has the jankest, tiniest $750 a month apartment in the history of jank apartments. But on a sliding scale of how cool a jank apartment can be, this one is way close to the top. Much thanks to Boyco and the UF team for hosting us, without that we could not have afforded to come to Gainesville.
5) Huntsville - Gainesville is about a 9.5 hour drive each way. Not sure the relevance to anything there, but I wanted you all to know how far UAH is willing to travel to race!
Ok, now onto the racing.
For those unfamiliar with Collegiate Racing, it is almost mandatory that you A) misplace riders registration and B) start at least 15 minutes late. TopView sports, the organizers of the weekend, succeeded in both categories, even upping their game by starting 20 minutes late and losing some registration info for UF riders (in addition to Justins!). Honestly, I would be disappointed if a bike race went smoothly, I would have nothing to write about.
I had a 10:10:30 start time, which translated into about a 10:30 start time. The trip out was great, a 15-20 mph tailwind made for a fun 28mph average until the 4.6 mile turnaround. Thats when the fun started. Mechanical problems, biomechanical problems (had shoulder surgery in winter), and a 15-20mph wall made for a harrowing final 4.6 miles. Thank You to Eric Doehrman and his lovely wife for letting me put her Mercury Trident Time Trial bike through the paces this weekend. Also got to ride on the new Uberhund integrated aerobars, and I must say, they are impressive. All in all, my time was 11 seconds faster than last year, the wind was WAY worse, and considering how much surgery affected my training, I feel pretty good about the year to come.
Enough with me. The real story today is Justin Wilson, starting his first bike race ever. Justin joined the team in the fall, bought his first road bike about two months ago, and came into this race with no contact with road racing ever. Justin did his ITT like a real man, Eddie Mercx style with only drop bars and standard alloy wheels. The organizers lost his start place, and had to stick him in a different slot. Having never done a TT before, and having no way to gauge his effort, he came across the line with a little extra juice in his legs, wondering why there was throwup on my shoe covers. Next time he will certainly push harder, and Justin is going to have a great season.
Tomorrow is the first REAL race of 2010, a downtown .7 mile criterium. The ITT tested our high end endurance and aerobic capacity, but the crit will test our high end speed, handling, and fast twitch sprinting muscles. Stay tuned for updates tomorrow.
Oh.
And.
Go Colts beat the Saints!
No comments:
Post a Comment