That was NOT GOOD

This weekend was the Conquer the Canyons Stage Race. The race is a two day, three stage event. First was the time trial on Saturday morning. Four miles of rolling-uphill terrain. Last year the times were pretty fast, this year was down right silly. I did a 12:53 which would have put me in the top 15 last year. This year.....34th place. Yikes.

Now it was time for stage two, which was a 2.25 miles circuit race. Pretty much dead flat, with 3 corners and a couple of big sweeping turns. A good course, but a little tight. No crashes so that was nice. I got a couple of preems, then cooled my jets thinking about the really hard road race the next day. I had good position on the lats lap, until some goon boxed me in and my day was done.

Sunday morning. Skies are cloudy, the wind is up, and it's 60 degrees. Perfect day for a beating. We tore ass out of the start finish area, and soon we were on the one mile long climb (about 7% all the way up). No real attacks this lap, although we did ride up it at 15-16 mph. Fast enough to get rid of a lot of guys 4 miles into the 60 mile race. Lap two, and we are at the climb again way too soon for my legs. This time, the attacks started. I made it over the top just off the back, and then had to chase with a handful of guys to try and get back on. Nothing doing. While we were chasing flat out so was the peleton. A break of 3 guys had 20 seconds so we never caught on. Soon Chance (teammate) popped too, so we had another guy to ride laps with. I made it over the climb on lap 6 of 8 but that was it for me. My legs gave out and I called it a day. The good news was it only rained for 3 of my 6 laps. What a crappy race. Not only was it pyshically taxing, but it was really unorganized. First off the start times for the TT weren't available until the morning of the event. Then they missed my second preem, which wasn't even close. I was a bike length ahead of the guy, and then for the road race they told us NO PARKING at the start/finish. We were to park in one of two dirt lots (great when it raining) then ride 4 miles to the start/finish for the the race. Then at the last minute, they changed the rule and allowed us to park at the s/f, but didn't announce it to anyone. What a joke. The last thing you want to do after a 60 mile death march, is ride your bike through hills back to your car, which is now in a mud pit, 4 miles away.

So to the fine folks at MESP Productions, thanks for the sore legs, and the crappy finish line food, and don't count on getting my money next year. As my good friend President George W. Bush said," Fool my once, shame on me.....fool me twice, uh , uh ??????, see ya can't get fooled again." Thanks G-Dub you can always make me laugh.