Waukishaw, Greenbush RR and Schlitz Park Criterium

Ok, so this blogging every day after a race thing is getting demanding!  But hopefully some readers find what I have to say amusing or motivating =).  The day's go by pretty quickly with most of our races in the afternoon/evening and when i'm horizontal on my blow up air mattress bed the last thing I really want to do is use my brain - but here it goes! 

Day 4 at Waukishaw I slept in and still felt pretty tired, wasn't sure how the legs were going to feel during the crit.  The course was pretty technical, with a couple risers in it, but other than that it looked fun.  There were a couple dicey turns, the first one especially - a hard right hander down a narrow street that was slightly uphill.  Good place to turn on the GAS. 

We found a great little coffee shop, and enjoyed an americano with good friends eying the lower division racers fly by between random rain drops.  We even spotted some local Bay Area celebs in the hood.

that's Mary Ellen Ash in the Distance!

Coffee a pre-race must!

Race started out pretty fast, and I spent a solid amount of time near the font and chased down two pretty good attacks from Mellow Mushroom.  That had me gased (again) and I shrunk back to recover from my efforts.  Then, the primes increased in their amount and the pace was drilled.  Oh boy did that hurt like a you know what!  I was cross eyed at one point for sure.  But, i made it through the toughest parts, navigated through the sea of people and tried to stay out of trouble at the end getting 26th.
 
Later that night we went over to someones house for a BBQ, and I met some pretty great people, heard some pretty rad bike racing stories, and had some ice cream to die for.  Great day all in all.

VK All The Way

The next day came quickly - too quick! In a daze we loaded the car, drove through a crazy DOWNPOUR storm, and before I knew it we were in the town of Greenbush (yeah, lots of green bushes there...hardy har har!)  We warmed up quickly, and prepared ourselves for some hurt. 

We did 6 laps, each having several significant climbs that weren't the longest but hurt pretty good.  I survived this race, trying to bridge gaps, and hit the climbs before the field so i'd have a "head start".  The last lap was brutal.  Van Guilder drilled it with La Sasso (Mellow Mushroom) on the second major climb, and gapp'd half the fieild making what could have been the final selection.  I was surprised my legs had lasted this long, and decided it was all or nothing given my teammate was in my group.  Red Racing attacked, and I jumped to catch her wheel.  We busted tail! I was going really hard, fighting for dear life and found myself struggling to hold on to the chase group.  POP.  And i did.  I didn't give up tho, I took a breath and said no way not after all that...  I gave it one last GO, slipped past the follow cars, and was on the back of the main peleton once again with a few miles to go!  They were nervous because it was going to come down to a field sprint once again.  So, I just tried to stay out of trouble and nip some people at the end.  Came in 24, and my teammate Starla came in 3rd! Podium for Vanderkitten! 

Starla rounded the podium out, and captured the Green jersey for best armature rider

Today I was fried.  I sorta never came out of my fog.  I was hoping that I could surprise myself like the day's prior, but no way.  I gave it a go tho, and after falling off the main group in the first 20 min of the 60 min race, I decided not to punish myself, and call it a day.  I routed for my teammates on the sideline and tried to recover, as Wed will be a tough non aero TT.  

I'm really looking forward to that and the last four crits.  Time is flying by, and I'm trying to enjoy every min, learn as much as I can about bike racing, and have fun with great teammates, and new friends. 

Also, frozen custard is pretty life changing.  That's all I have to say about that!

~VD