Omaha Cycling Weekend

Interesting weekend for the team. I'm just trashed right now-three race in two days will do that to you.

The team had some good results this weekend. Jackie (without the broken collarbone), Fred, Andy, and myself competed. Jackie finished 6th in the cat 4 women's TT. Fred finished on the podium in the cat 3 time trial, only 1 second out of 2nd (first in 50+). The Ageless One averaged 26.7 mph over the 10 mile course. I ended up 8th overall out of 39 riders in cat 4 (2nd in 40-49) with an average speed of 25.4 mph. It was a difficult TT course, with 6 turns, lots of little rollers, so that you could not get a full head of steam going before you had to slow up or change gears.

The crits on Saturday night were tough. In the cat 4, there were 40 riders on a tight course. After a lousy start (my signature move) it took me 15 minutes to get to the front 10 or so. Speeds were high, and the morning TT didn't help. On the last lap, some doofus from MCC sat up at a critical junction and I got gapped by the front 7. I busted a bun getting back, but on that course it's too late if you're not on the front on the descent. Rich Pearson pipped me at the line, so I was 9th (3rd in 40-49).

Fred and Andy raced the 3's crit. Fred had a mechanical problem at the start and ended up 10 seconds back almost instantly. With the hot pace, it was impossible to get back on. Andy stayed on for quite a while, but fast pace took its toll. They ended up racing in with Troy Krause from Lincoln Industries.

The road race was another extremely fast affair. The 3's were combined with the 1-2 race, and Fred and Andy reported that it was brutal. Officials called the race after 50 miles because of threatening weather. Both finished in the money-Andy claiming the 8th place prize in the cat 3 race, and Fred was 2nd in the 50+ cat 3s.

My cat 4 race had 40 racers on the narrow roads of the course, but we miraculously had few crashes. The was a lot of sketchy riding in the back, so I stayed up front for 85% of the race. Tried to get into some breaks, but as is usual in cat 4, nothing was allowed to get away. We went the full 50 miles. I positioned myself in the front three for the final lap and stayed there until 400 meters to go, where better sprinters came around me and I ended up 8th (again), but won the 40-49, and thus won the 40-49 omnium prize for all three races. Very fast race, even with the winds.