Week #34 RECOVERY

Took the week pretty easy to recover from Gravel Worlds. My legs felt ok this week but I could tell they needed a break. My goal for the year was to race quite a bit and Gravel Worlds was #15 for the year. I have Pony Express 120 on September 7th and as of right now I don't have anything else planned. I do think I am going to do a long weekend of riding - Lawrence to Emporia via DK course then back to Lawrence in two days. Should be a little over 300 miles total. Hopefully that will happen the first weekend of October - weather permitting. Next week will probably still be a fairly easy week but a long ride of 6+ hours on Saturday.

Week #33 GRAVEL WORLDS (24th overall / 3rd 50-59)

2019 Gravel Worlds Bicycle Race was an awesome day. I want to congratulate Corey Godfrey, Craig Schmidt, Jen Carlson and all the volunteers for putting on a great event. It was fun to have all of the events leading up to the race this year. Can't wait until next year!
The race started out super fast and I had to let the lead pack go. I wasn't planning on letting that happen, but my body wasn't comfortable riding at that pace. Plus I knew how many hills we had to climb and I figured that many of the folks would not be able to handle them once it started to warm up. With all the miles I have put in this year, I felt confident I could ride the second half of the race real strong.
Once we got about 40 miles in, I had closed the gap to the lead group to about 30 seconds, but unfortunately that is where they took off. I didn't start to catch many people until after the first checkpoint (mile 60ish). It probably wasn't until mile 80 that I started reeling in small groups.
At 90 miles I caught up with Alison Tetrick, who ended up winning the women's division. I was able to help her out until the second checkpoint where I saw John Rokke and Joel Brazil rolling out. I hurried up and caught them less than a mile down the road. We all road the last 20 miles together and then had to sprint to the line. Unfortunately, I don't win many sprints.
A big shout out to Lauf and my True Grit bike. I have been racing on it all year and it handles all kinds of conditions. Still have to say it is the most comfortable gravel bike I have rode so far. I also have been using the Rova Cantu Cycling Wheels this year and very happy with them. Since I have a tendency to break everything, the Rovas have help up great and been super smooth and fast rolling so far. My nutrition seemed to be more dialed in for the race. Science in Sport kept me going all day. I used Beta Fuel for my drink mix and GO Isotonic Energy gels. I made sure I was taking gels every 30-45 minutes.
I was real happy with getting 24th overall and placed 3rd in the 50-59. I was also happy to come away with the overall win for the RRR Gravel Series Championship. Really happy to take home a new floor pump since my old one is shot.
I also want to give a big high five to all the Move Up Off Road guys for crushing things this year. I was happy to have everyone staying at the house and get to hang out before and after the race. It is so cool to be apart of a great team!
Next up is the Pony Express 120 Gravel Dash on September 7th in Marysville, KS. I had a great time last year and really happy to be going back to race (healthy) this year. #moveupoffroad #fueledbyscience#isontonicsquad #laufforks #ucantu #possmdoping #flyvie13#gravelworlds2019 #unlearnpavement #justanotherdayonthebike#joypower

Week #32 The hay is in the barn!

Gravel Worlds is this coming Saturday and hopefully I am ready. I will be going into the race with almost 11,000 miles for the year and lots of races under my belt. I feel confident but still know a lot can happen in 150 miles. Nutrition will be the key and remembering to eat enough early on. Taking those few extra times to get food down is so important. The pace should be quick from the start, so going with the lead group is going to be crucial. It will be fun to have a house full of teammates and to see everyone over the weekend.

Week #31 Recovery Time

After a couple of months getting over 4,000 miles in, it's time for a little recovery. Monday was a travel day and I ended up being awake for almost 24 hours. A cancelled flight in Newark ended up with finding another flight into Omaha. Naturally I got sick with the traveling so having a down week was really in order.
Just a couple of weeks until Gravel Worlds and I hope that all of this work will pay off. I plan on trying to be well rested and hopefully healthy at the start.