year in review: to the races

Back from England and back into the swing of things, caught up with school work and such I can get back to the cycling year in review.

After the tough race at Hopbrook, April 7, I got out training a bit more, significantly on the road bike. I had almost 600 miles in May. Just before that big month was the race at Winding Trails on April 29, where form and fitness were beginning to show. Each race I was doing better. Despite being somewhat vertically challenged Brialee (May 13) put a hurt on with the sheer roughness of the course. Roots, rocks, and mud pits made for a brutal, brutal race. It was my first top 5 finish of the season though. Then came Coyote Hill in Bradford, VT. What a great Memorial day weekend. We went up a day early, pre-rode the course and had a blast riding it. Camping for the night, we raced the next day. The next weekend we hit the Channel 3 race. Overall a very fast course, but there were two short steep climbs that made for some pain. The twin sisters of mercy they were dubbed, but the were far more merciful for me than some others, I landed a 4th place finish.

My only century of the season came the second weekend of June. The developing cycling club at work took part in the Tour de Cure to raise money for the fight against diabetes. The following weekend I volunteered for the New Haven century ride, working at 2 rest stops along the ride. It was nice to be a supporter for once. The final weekend of June I headed for the wilds of Pennsylvania working into the peak of my season, which I'll cover in the next post.