Easy ride

I took the past couple of days off and went out for an easy 25 miler today. Racing is getting pretty expensive with gas these days so I think I'll be taking some time off until maybe the weekend before I leave for Portland. Here are some pics from last weekend...

some of the gang
tt start
tom in a daring breakaway on stage 3
sprint finish... (not for 1st)

Memorial Day Weekend

This weekend we drove up to the Duluth Classic stage race for 4 days of racing goodness. Friday evening was stage 1, a 16.2 mile time trial loop. It was my first chance to race the new time trial bike and felt pretty good about my performance. Juntti rocked out with the best time for ACE putting him in the top 10.
Day 2 was a 54 mile fairly flat road race. Everyone’s legs were fresh but the wind kept things together and the race ended in a bunch sprint with no one moving directions in GC.
Day 3, the legs started feeling a little tired and the stage was the longest and most demanding at 62 miles. The race had a monster climb, which I climbed in my 39-23. Nothing serious went away until 5 broke away with one more lap to go, and I was in it! We worked together hard and stayed away until 2 miles left where the peloton caught us. Again the race ended up together.
Day 4 was a 45 minute crit. 2 guys got away and stayed away all race. There were a bunch of little attempts to reel them back in but the break stuck. I finished 11th on the day. Overall the timed stage race thing is pretty cool, and I’ve learned if I ever want to be competitive I’ve got some work to do on the time trials.

The weekend was great hanging with the units, the grand parents and all the Ace guys. Time for some resting up and getting ready for Portland!!

wisconsin cup races

Big weekend for ACE as it was the team debut. Saturday was a 46 mile road race in Denzer, Wisconsin about an hour north of Madison. I drove up that morning to meet them and get ready for some fun. The loop was 11.5 miles and included a 1.5 mile steep hill really early in the lap. Saturday was really windy and we started with 19 so there wasnt much room to hide. Lap 1, no problem... I hung in there and got a pretty good idea of what this cat 3 race was going to be like. If I could manage the hills, hanging on for the rest of the lap wouldnt be a problem. Lap 2, up the hill things were getting tough and I crested the hill 75 meters behind the lead 6 guys. With help from 2 other guys we caught them in a couple of miles. Lap 3, otb again on the hill... with the same guys again this time we didnt catch the leaders. I finished 10th overall. That night we crashed at Tom's brothers place which couldnt have worked out any better. The masters cooked for everybody and we had an awesome chicken pasta dinner!
Sunday was Wheels on Willy, great 1km course that I will definitely be coming back to. The day wasn't quite as nice as saturday but the atmosphere was 100x better. The fields were full, the crowds were great and it just felt like a fun bike race. We even had an Ace Hardware right on corner 1 to make us feel a little more at home. This time the other 3's decided to race masters and skip the 3 race so I was at it alone. We started going and the pace was quick but manageable. I stayed in the top half to keep out of trouble, but there was never any to be had. 2 laps to go and I moved up to top 15, I stayed there as we came around for the bell lap. After coming around the last corner of the final lap I got out of my saddle to sprint and broke the master link on my chain, I just looked down and there was nothing there so I coasted across the line in the middle of the pack. I was a little upset but it was a great day and a great weekend so I wasnt going to let that ruin the fun. Not sure how the masters finished up but they all raced well. Wes and Toph finished strong in the 4s and Ty did the same in the P/1/2 field. Way to go guys! Pictures to follow if I can get some.

New Bike!

I got my first tt bike this week, I haven't had time to take a picture yet so heres a stock pic. Its a felt s32 and I found it on slowtwitch from a guy from Tennessee. He took really good care of it and upgraded the deraillers to dura ace and the tires to mich prorace2. First race on it will be the duluth time trial. I'll be sure to give a ride report after I get a solid ride on it.



Big racing next couple of weekends.
Next up: a couple of races with the wisconsin cup (road race and crit)
followed by: duluth stage race

lots happening

lots of good stuff about to happen, ill be sure to take lots of pictures...
or steal them from other people...