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I've completed my third consecutive day of racing in the Tour of America's Dairyland. Each day has been better from the last. On the first, I didn't finish. By yesterday, I worked my way all the way up to a mediocre pack finish. But the bigger news in my opinion is I didn't feel like I was dying for the whole race. Details

I'm taking the day "off" today by going to work. That's because today's stage is another hilly road race. I can only compete in perfect conditions. Not too long, not too hot, not too hilly, and I'm there.

By tomorrow, I'll be all rested up for the weekend races, and possibly be prepared to suck even slightly less.

In other news, I just ordered a disc wheel cover for the TTs next month. I'm probably not fast enough for it to matter, but it's fun to look pro. I guess pros use real discs though. Oh well.

Hot Hot Heat

The last two days were some of the hottest bike riding days I've ever experienced. The first day was the ToAD Fond du Lac road race. The less that's said about that, the better.

But the next day was the crit, on a very similar course to Manitowoc. There were four 90 degree turns and zero elevation change. The only difference was the oppressive sun and heat. Based on my perception, Fond du Lac was a much harder race. I felt I was working much harder and could never get comfortable. In comparison, Manitowoc felt pretty easy, and I was able to move around without ever suffering too badly.

But the numbers tell a different story.



My heart rate was indeed consistently higher, but my power numbers were lower across the board. Details

After the race, I drank about 6 bottles of water, and still couldn't use the bathroom until about 7 hours after the race.

I'm leaving for Sheboygan momentarily.

Waterloo Classic

Today was the Waterloo classic, the second stage of the Tour of America's Dairyland. It's a long crit course, at 1.6 miles. Long stretches with no turns kept the average speed high, but it was not a very intense race for the cat 3s. Windy conditions kept breaks from sticking.

But the race was dominated by a series of crashes which even continued after the finish line. I avoided all the crashes, but I saw several. I seemed to be unable to maintain a decent position in this race, and finished 17th out of 30 starters.

I was carrying a video camera for peleton-pix.com. Watch for that to be uploaded when it's complete.

This was my first race with the new powertap. Data:

Sometimes you just have to sleep

I was totally going to do a hard interval workout on Tuesday, but I was tired and lazy so I slept instead.  I slept about 12 hours I think.  

Up next: Tour of America's Dairyland (I found myself in the banner on that site)

I'll be doing several races in the series, but not all of them.  Today is a ridiculous hill race.  I've got the good sense to skip that pain festival.  My first race in the series will be tomorrow in Waterloo.