Crusade Schedy is up…..
Greetings Readers!
The Crusade schedule is up!
Good Grief I’ve been checking like 10 times a day, bout time! As with every schedy there is good news and bad, a double weekend at Astoria is bad, and having Barton is good. Everybody hates Barton, which means I’ll do well there, Not to mention the absence of Hornings. Looks like Wilsonville will follow Alpenrose, this will be a new course for me as I’ve not raced nor seen this course before. I’d venture to guess the final two races will be Estacada and Hillsboro, followed by the USGP on Dec 6th and 7th. My goal was to race the whole series this year as I missed Rainier and Astoria last year with oral surgery. The double day at Astoria will be a challenge, as now instead of my entry fee and gas, I’ve now two entry fees and lodging. The wallet will have to make the final decision, I may only be able to do one of those two races. I had hoped Mr Ross would have tried to stear the venues a little closer to the Portland Metro area, least we forget gas is still $4.00 a gallon and there are a ton of racers from east county, not to mention Bend and Eugene that make up the Crusades. Back to back weekends at Rainier and Astoria is hard on the wallet yo’. Don’t get me wrong cuz I ain’t whinning, I’ll be there to get my cross fix, I ain’t been riding my ass off all year to let a drive to the coast impede my just rewards: just sayin’, yo’ Brad, a little closer to home will ya? Course, 1200 of the Mongol Hoard can do some damage to the venues *atmo, and there’s just not a lot of places willing to let their precious grounds be torn to shreds…… So I “get it” from that standpoint. I can’t imagine we’ve got a whole slew of venues knocking our door down to get there grounds thrashed.
The race calendar is starting to fill up, and I’ve added three crits to the mix to get ready for cross. So far I’m planning 14 races this year. With the exception of Labor Day weekend, I’m booked solid till after the USGP.
Aug 24th (we skip Labor day) followed by Sept 7th and 14th will be the Krugers Dirt Crit.
My 1st real CX race: Sept 21st, Hood River CCX. (my fav course) The following Sunday: Sept 28th, The Battle of Barlow.
October 5th marks the opening of the Crusades, which ends on Nov 16th. One more CX at Krugers Nov 23rd. We then take Thanksgiving off, (which will be in Bend for me) and End the season with the USGP on Dec 6th and 7th. Yikes!
That’s a crammed race calendar folks, racing every weekend outside of Labor Day and Thanksgiving weekend. I’m Stoked! I’m Stressed! How will I do? Will I be plagued with mechanicals, flats, bad luck? Or will I have a good season? Will I suck? Will I surprise myself and others with some solid results? I’ve had some promising workouts lately and I’ve best some personal times and speeds, so I’m totally clueless as to how I’ll do? I’m trying not to stress, as the miles I’ve ridden this year are what they are, I can’t do much more to prepare myself than I already have. Sufice it to say: “The day will end, and the end be known”. I’m gonna do as well as I’m gonna do. I’ve no doubt that tubulars are going to help my racing, but I’m still apprehensive and that won’t change till I get my mojo on. My Pal Ken (and security blanket) won’t be racing with me this year so I’ll be lining up on my own. No teammate to count on. Last year at Estacada, Ken was with the lead group and I was with the chase group, I was suffering like a dawg, my head looking down at my tire and body, dyin’. Ken yelled at me “Cmon Jim!” as he went past me on a joint section of the course. Damn straight, My head came up and I had that little extra to finish that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. Ken gave me a huge lift that day, more than he’ll ever know, I’ll miss him for sure. Alas, I’m still gonna give’r. I just don’t know how it’s gonna turn out?
I’ve started to lower the duration of my rides and kick up the intensity. I started doing cross drills and runup repeats last weekend and will do them again tomorrow.
I’ve got to live by Keller’s words of wisdom, ” I need to be an opportunist this year. No goals but smiles. Sincerely.”
I’ve been waiting since December, I need to have fun and give’r. Race my heart out, smile, and let the chips fall where they may. This is a challenge for me as I’m competitive, want to do well, and hate to lose. I’m ready, bring on the cowbells!
Miles ridden today, 38
Miles ridden 2008, 2916
Cheers!