Recap

Since I'm just sitting on my ass in the kitchen at the Raccoonbear City all by my lonesome right now--drinking an entire pot of coffee and working on a Mac--I figured I'd do a little recap of the season's highs and lows.

As with most things on this blog, it is for my sake rather than anyone elses. I apologize if it isn't entertaining.

Most Fun Race: Michigan State Road Race. This was one of the more difficult and more entertaining races. There was a dirt road. I was in a breakaway for half the race. I remember thinking that I was in good form at this race and that things would continue to get better all season. I think I made incremental improvements and the rest of the pack got stronger by leaps and bounds. It is a good Big Man's race, and I finished okay despite burying myself to bridge to a break and try to stay away for the finish.

Best Criterium: Probably the collegiate Regionals crit on Capital Square. Fast, fast, fast with wide open turns. I like a drag race. It was unfortunate that I crashed here, but it was probably my favorite crit.

Least Fun Race/Worst Criterium: Elm Grove Criterium. Just a sketch fest. Won't be going back next year.


Scariest/Hairiest Race: Tie between Wheels on Willy and The State Criterium Championships.

Best Finish: Sheboygan Harbor Center Criterium. 5th place in a bunch sprint with the entire field.

Worst Finishes: Several DNF's this year--Mizzou Road Race, Regional Championships Crit, and the Snake Alley Crit. They were all bummers in their own special ways.

Crashes: I thankfully got off this season with one crash in a race. Unfortunately it was a bad one that cost me a wheel, a seat post, and a thumb that is still struggling to get back to 100%. The Capitol Square crit in Madison is another of my favorites--good big man course with wide open corners--but the road condition this year made for a lot of flats and a lot of crashes. You live and you learn.

Tire of Choice: Once again, I hands down pick the Specialized Roubaix for all things training. Bulletproof. I've raced these tires down gravel roads, logged hours on the trainer, and they still look brand new.

The sleeper favorites have been the 20 dollar Hutchinson Equinox tires that worked their way onto my Tarmac for "training" and never left on race day. They cornered exceptionally well and were beefy enough that I didn't worry so much about puncturing during races.

Favorite Wheel: I got the opportunity to try out a lot of different wheel sets this year. The clear winner was my home built set of 36 spoke Dura Ace/Velocity rims. Yeah, they're heavy. Yeah, 36 spokes is more than you need. But they take a serious licking, and with the condition of the roads here in and around Madison, I'll take a little extra help. Besides, I'm no featherweight.

Pleasant Surprise: I tend not to like typical enduro sport hooey in terms of "Performance" food for rides. Like high end gatorade or gel shots. Mostly because I don't feel like they are worth the money for the amount of enjoyment and calories I get out of them. I've always favored plain water for hydration, pop tarts and bananas for a long ride (or just a good breakfast and lunch for a normal ride), and electrolyte caps for electrolytes.

However, clif shot blocks are a pure joy. They tap into my primal need for gummy candy and calories on the road. Love them.

Honorable mention to the Badger State Trail (aka the H8TR trail). I like it despite it being completely overgrown on it's way out of town. It's a good change of pace for me and there is a super cool tunnel on it.

Bike Love: Both the Soma Smoothie and the Specialized Tarmac filled their roles to a T. The Smoothie was dealt the bulk of the training miles and a lot of early season races. The Tarmac was a race day only ride that cornered scary well. I don't see any reason whatsoever to change around my bike setups for next year and-- barring any serious crashes or mishaps--I should be good on the road bike front for the foreseeable future.

Best race season momentProbably carpooling with Fast Freddy to the mid summer USCF/WCA races. Close second to rolling with Steve and Jon Cook for collegiate season.

And that's about all I've got for now.