Long Week of Racing Crits

So after our 5th crit at the Tour of America's Dairyland, we left early to get down to Cincinnati for the Hyde Park Blast weekend. So far we did a local training points race and the Madeira warm-up crit last night. It is good to feel like we are actually bike racers again after not bringing a single dollar back from Wisconsin.

The training crit was the last race of a series and all of the locals were really keen to race for the overall. Ryan, Gabe, and I didn't want to get in their way too much, but we also wanted to at least make our entry back. And we did - we took both primes, and Ryan and I rode the break to take 2nd and 3rd place for our entry fees. And the guy that was 2nd in the series asked me to lead it out for the double points on the last lap and he would give me his prize money. I did just that and he ended up winning but I am still waiting on that prize money!

The Hyde Park Blast weekend starts off with a race in Madeira just outside of Cincinnati. Madeira is a nasty little course with two 180 degree turns and some chicanery before the finish. I was able to stay in front of the splits all night, and ended the night in the money. Gabe was trying to set Nick up for the finish, but crossed handlebars with Jared Babik of GPOA, which derailed the leadout. Both of them still ended up in the money as well.

And so all that is left is Hyde Park. And after 8 crits in 10 days, I have learned one really important lesson:

The thing that made the biggest difference in my performance on any given day was how much of this stuff I drank throughout the day before the race. If I wasn't able to drink a lot, my legs would just struggle to come around and get past that point where you feel like you can't make yourself suffer. If I was actively drinking Nuun all day, I would usually be able to make myself suffer, even if I didn't feel 100%. Aside from getting a knowledgeable coach to review my program, I would say that Nuun has made the biggest difference to my racing.

So give it a shot: www.nuun.com