Joe Martin Stage Race

Joe Martin Stage Race report

This is pretty late. Joe Martin was my first big NRC race series of the year, in Fayetteville, AR.

Really all I want to say in this report is 2 things. #1, Thanks to all the awesome folks who got me there and supported me (Katie Kolon, Psimet Racing, Elliston Coaching, and Osmo Nutrition) and #2, Thanks to all those folks back home who thought so highly of me as a racer that they thought I’d do well there. Wow, I never knew how good a racer you thought I was. I’m flattered that you thought I was that good. Really.

I never would have gotten there if it hadn’t been for my fearless teammate Katie Kolon, who drove with me in her car all the way down there and whose friend Annie in Fayetteville offered us a place to stay. Katie wrote a race report too, and you should read it because it’s better than mine. It’s here:

 http://spidermonkeycycling.com/joe-martin-stage-race/

Joe Martin starts with an uphill time trial, followed by two uphill road races and a final, exciting uphill crit. I practiced my uphills to prepare for the race, but probably should have gone up a few more hills because I got my butt kicked all weekend.

The TT is a mind-bender. It starts flat, so you start hammering. Then it goes up at about 7% grade for the rest of it. Everyone feels like they go out and die on it, and they think they totally implode and mess it up. Especially me, since that is what I really do. And really did. I hate to admit that I was a little sloppy. Warmup too long, no aero stuff, what the heck I just did it. Lesson learned: you can’t be a little sloppy when you race former Olympians. Or you end up in 46^th place. Ouch.

Recovery from JMSR TT in the COLD stream nearby

For the road races my goal was to stay in the front group. Both times I got popped off into the chase group.  I’ll say something positive first: it was fun riding with my strong Chicago rivals-turned-teammates in these road races. Now I’ll say what I am really thinking. Chase groups aren’t fun. You ride along at cruising speed because your race is over, you’re done, saving it for tomorrow, and your brain burns hot remembering that moment when you needed to be up front. Remembering that one cruel moment when you lost the group and lost the race.

I have to give a shout-out to Psimet here for impressive assistance on these road races. Every.single.rider.on.the.team had a mechanical, and they got us all back in there. No DNFs. No one time cut. Plenty of wheels, thank goodness- it pays to be sponsored by the best wheelbuilder you have ever heard of. Seriously, I’ve never seen any pro team’s support crew tested like that, not in the races I have done or even the ones I have watched on TV. Rob, Leah, and Bill just kept on like it was a normal day. 5-second wheel change after 5-second wheel change, no big deal. I was kind of bummed about all the mechanicals, but it was cool to watch these folks- folks I know! Rob Curtis! Leah Sanda! And to see that they could be THAT pro.

Crit day should have been super fun, but I woke up coughing bad with allergies. I saw the pollen pooling on the ground and knew that it would not be my day. It was one of those rare days when my mental outlook was so bad, the best thing I could do was hide it from my teammates.

Hiding it.

 I think I hid it OK- Bill noticed but the others didn’t. But the crit went wrong from the start line on. I lined up in back, got caught in a near-crash on the first corner, chased for 5 laps, and was exhausted after that- a victim of a toxic combination of asthma, pollen, and my own early season stupidity. I was pulled pretty early.

I did a write-up on Osmo nutrition, which was great stuff. That’s here:

http://www.psimet.com/blog/osmo-nutrition/

And that's it! So yeah, I made a ton of early season mistakes. Got 'em all out of the way. But nonetheless, it was great to ride with strong Chicago gals and represent as rivals-turned-teammates, and we had the best pro support of any team ever.