On June 1, I raced in the C Race at Tuesday Night Worlds. This was my first time racing at Cardondelet and didn't really know what do expect. I felt really good and stayed with the lead pack for the whole 25 minutes, but didn't stay with a breakway that happened with three laps left. It was a lot of fun, I averaged 23 mph, felt really good, but there are two things I need to work on. One, I never took a drink, and two, I always lost a lot of speed on the tight corner.
My friend and neighbor down the street, Mr. Sloan, recently gave me his old road bike. It is a Willier Triestina Izoard. I had never heard of Willeir before, but they are an Italian company who has been making handmade bikes for 100 years. It's a really nice bike. The components are all great, and it is all carbon fiber. The carbon makes it super light; it weighs 5 lbs. less than my CX bike and 10 lbs. less than my 29er. On the road, it is really fast and a lot of fun to ride. Here are some pictures:
Today, I raced in the Tour of St. Louis's Delmarvelous Crit. The crit was near downtown St. Louis on Delmar and Martin Luther King Blvd. We woke up earlier and got there around 6:50, but the organizers, Big Shark weren't ready for registration for a while. I got my derailleur blocked out and rode a couple of laps. The course was a 0.8 mile rectangle. Since it was raining, there were puddles all over and the corners were pretty wet. The side of the course with the Start/ Finish was a smooth downhill, the other side was a rougher, wetter climb into the wind. Besides being wet and cold it was also really windy. Winds were in the low 20's gusting up to 32 mph. They were a little late starting the race. I was in second after the first two corners and then two more juniors pulled away. In a lap or two, I was with two Columbia Bike Club people. I stayed with them for the whole race. I pulled away from them on the last two corners, but got passed by one of them right before the finish line. Still, it was a fun race. Pretty soon, mountain bike racing around St. Louis will start to pick up. Greensfelder and Rhetts Run in May, and four races in June: two at Castlewood, one at Bromelsiek, and the rescheduled Lost Valley Luau.
Yesterday, I did my first road road at the Tilles Park Crit. Crit, which is short for Criterem, is a kind of road race with many laps around a short course. I got to Tilles around 11:30. I registered in the Juniors 10-18 category and warmed up to get ready for the 12:15 start. Adrienne from Mesa told me crits start fast and then slow down some, and that I need to draft off other riders to save energy. After the race started, I was surprised that I could actually stay with the main pack of eight riders. We stayed together as a pack for the first 18 minutes. Then, four riders broke away. The four of us left stayed together for most of the rest of the race. After 20 minutes was up, we had four laps to go. One rider kind of broke away, but we caught him with two laps to go. Just as I was starting the final lap, I passed on the first downhill and tried to get away from the other three riders. About halfway through the lap, they fell back and I finished in fifth. I raced about 10.4 miles and averaged 21 mph. I think I did pretty good for my first road race considering I won a mountain bike race the day before, had a cyclocross bike, and was competing with older racers on way lighter carbon fiber bikes. Road racing was fun, and I liked it, but I still like mountain bike racing better. Throughout the year, I'll still do some road races.
|
AuthorMy name is Ben. I love to read, hike, backpack, mountain bike, rock climb, and mountain bike race. Since there are so many great hikes in Missouri, I decided to make a website to describe them. The Mountain BikeI ride a 2010 Specialized Rockhopper Expert 29er. I've upgraded all the original parts, went 1x9 and dropped 5lbs from the stock bike.
My Road BikeI have Willier Izoard for road riding and racing.
My CX BikeI ride a 2010 Specialized Tricross
2010 Race ResultsRiver Trails Mountain Bike Challenge (Kansas)
1st Junior 15-18 Tilles Park Crit 5th Juniors 10-18 Delmarvelous Crit 5th Juniors 15-18 Greensfelder Challenge 1st Juniors 15-18 Rhett's Run 2nd Juniors 15-18 2009 Mtb. Race Results
ICCC Castlewood Race 5th Beginner 19 and under Greensfelder Classic 5th Beginner 19 and under Burning at the Bluff 3rd in Burnin Virgins Category Archives
January 2012
Categories
All
|