Back on the Grind

San Pedro two weeks ago marked my last race since Ventura.

I started logging more miles in the saddle and it was time to dip my big toe back in the water. Lets just say it was a painful experience.

Glad to see some friends take the line with me. Kyle Stallings and Jordan Haggard have come around in a big way since last year and are on Fire. I'm pretty sure Jordan has a mandatory upgrade and Kyle is sitting right around the 18/ 19 point mark with me. Big props, you guys make the races more enjoyable. Its always fun to have guys who race well as a team and mix things up in the race.

San Pedro was a tough cookie. My goal was to stay top 5 or 10 for as much of the race as I could to keep out of trouble. This I did, pretty flawlessly. With 3 to go some attacks went and there were some bridge moves. I followed everything and nothing really stuck, the break came back... Jordan (who was in the break) attacked amidst the chaos and held it off for the V. I finished somewhere mid pack.
I had no legs for the sprint or the sprint for position into the last turn... It's always a bummer working hard and not getting results. But I didn't have very high expectations for the race. The repeated surges were a good awakening and the race was solid training.

MBGP: This course is shaped like a long Banana, with two 180 degree turns. The last turn is a tight turn in between barricades and normally is the location of broken carbon and bludgeoned riders. The strategy was the similar to San Pedro: stay near the front, work hard but not too hard, follow wheels and sprint into the last corner to try to be top 3 coming out of the last turn. The chaos happened on the last riser into the first 180 degree turn... I went from 4Th wheel to boxed into the pack... I was able to sort of weasel my way free and found the front, but didn't really want to drill it b/c I had pretty good legs... I tried to anticipate the surge and jump in, but I picked the wrong wheel and next thing I know I was boxed in again. People were yelling and breaks were squealing. Adam from NOW found a whole and snuck through and said "come on Chester lets go"... I couldn't sneak through and ended up finishing mid pack again. Big Daddy Derek Johnson ended up 5Th which is a killer result for MBGP.

Both races were solid races, despite lack of results. The training has been increasing in solidity these past couple of weeks. I still have yet to put the power tap back on. I have been training on feel. Riding what and how I feel like: So basically I have been spending a lot of time climbing. Slowly and surely the legs are coming around.

I am really looking forward to this weekend. I love the SLO venue. It is a killer race and my folks are coming out so it will be good to hang with family over the holiday weekend.

Work has been going good, but has been starting to get pretty hectic again which is good. It is nice to be busy.

School is also going good. I am taking a Business class this semester. My teacher is a real piece of work and seems for interested in quoting himself and his book then the success of the students. It is always frustrating to have a teacher who goes out of his way to make you feel bad for asking questions. But the subject matter is interesting and I will get through it.

Married life is great. Caitlin and I have sort of found our routines again and her work has been working with her schedule which helps. It is really difficult when we are working opposite schedules, but in this economy we are both really fortunate to have jobs. My garden is taking OFF! In the front I have potted hot peppers(although not too hot) and tomatoes that are starting to produce like crazy. In the back I have cucumber plants that are looking real healthy and getting big, two different plots of tomatoes in different stages of development, kale, green onions, pepper plants, bell pepper plants, one cayenne pepper plant, and a bunch of eggplants. I also have carrots that are starting to pop up. My pole beans have been more bird food then anything else. One minute they are looking great with a couple good sized leaves on them, the next minute they are trimmed down to their stalk. Several people have suggested I put mesh wire around them, but I am not really ready to go there yet. In a couple of months I should have some pictures of some bountiful harvests.

The wheels keep spinning