End of the Season notes

I haven't written reports for the last few races. I guess that's partially because I didn't really have expectations for them, so I didn't have reason to blab about them.

So here's the end result- the final race weekend was without doubt my best racing weekend. The courses were rideable but sloppy, which suited my skills. My power was still lacking but the technical skill was there.

Darden Towe in Charlottesville on Saturday was my kind of day. Wet snow turned the course into a soft mess, but lines remained on most of the course. I was able to descend well, and even though I wasn't climbing as well as I'd have liked, I rode a fairly good race. Had I not crashed twice, I think I'd have had a really good shot at winning. I passed the leader right before crashing, though... and that separated us. The second-place guy was on a mountain bike, and while it's usually a disadvantage, a few of the climbs were more rideable with the fat tires, and he pulled away on every one of them. So I ended up in 3rd.

Capital Cross in Reston on Sunday could have been better, but it was still a success in the context of this season. I started okay, but quickly started losing ground when the frozen stuff started to soften and got squishy. I struggled with the 2 long uphill grades, and lost ground on every lap on those sections. For a fair bit of the second and third laps, I was almost in contact with a group in front of me, but on my third lap, some course tape was blown by a gust of wind into the only line on the course, and I caught it and went down hard. Luckily it was on a section of ice and I slid rather than slamming into the pavement. It took a few minutes for me to mentally recover- I had 3 riders within sight, but couldn't seem to make up enough ground to catch them. Ended the day, and the season, in 31st.

I really wish I was in Bend this weekend, but the logistics just didn't work. It's probably for the best as my legs surely would not have allowed me to reproduce the last two seasons and the results I got then.

It's time to take the winter break from racing, and a month off from training seriously. January will bring a new set of goals and a new (hopefully injury-free) spring of long rides with teammates and friends. Racing starts up again sometime in March, and I'll aim to be ready for that when it comes!