A weekend spent on two wheels...

I will most likely go into more detail later...
Fitchburg was this past weekend, as was the birthday of the country.
This also marked the 50th Anniversary of Fitchburg.
Anyway, the breakdown goes something like this...
I did everything you're NOT supposed to do going into, and during the stage race, and you know, it didn't really hamper my efforts very much.

Day 1:
Ride Harley for 4-5 hours in rain/fog to Fitchburg. Arrive. Wet. All dry clothes, now wet. Everything, wet. Find bike. Get dressed, borrow fast wheels with slow tires. Pretend to warm-up and make jokes. Correction, I did no pretend to make jokes, I made them.
Rode TT. Went not so fast, but seriously all things considered, I wasn't last. I felt mediocre and I didn't crash in the rain/fog/cloud. Ride Harley to RI. Get lost along the way, do an extra 30 miles. Hang with Ned. Eat dinner, drink carbohydrate loaded beverages (x3) and go to bed.

Day 2:
Sunshine! Drive to Fitchburg in a small car. Find bike. Get dressed. DO NOT pretend to warm-up. Race starts late, it is hot. Kyle Wolfe Director Superior is in the feed zone, sweet. Ride bike. Gabe gets in break immediately. Sweet. 4 laps to go and field is in a frenzy chasing. Make my way to the front, put the smoosh effect on the chase. Make no friends. Get the hairy eyeball, get questioned, stay there for half a lap. Break gets their gap back, I fade back to the back. Hang out. Average 29.4 MPH for 50 miles. Legs cramping. Ouch. Sit-up on last lap, Gabe's break stays away, he jumps from 8th to 4th overall. Job well done. Drive home, meet up with Ali. Boogie down with friends. More carbohydrate rich beverages (x2.5). Sleep. Hard.

Day 3:
Road race. Originally I thought that without the mountain top finish it would be easier. Wrong. Way faster. Sit in, feel good, not much help to Gabe, get to the front a couple of times, ride through the feedzone at the front once. Hang out. Each snacks, drink 1 millions water bottles. Kyle Wolfe, in the feed zone. It's WINDY. I hide in the field. Chase a couple of could be breakaways... nada. Matt Purdy does the hero ride and stays away ALL day to win solo. Awesome. Also taking the points jersey. I get popped with 4 to go. Then chase down the descent scaring spectators, then navigating through the caravan back into the field. I then get popped with 3 to go, though this time for real. I ride solo for awhile, then with some other guys, then just one other guy, then solo again, and then it's over. And... in doing so, I moved up from 88th to 63rd overall. Sweet.

Day 4:
Crit day. I have done well in this crit before. And if it's back in the future, I will do well there again. I got to the front today, attacked when I knew a GC guy was in trouble and we could move Gabe up a spot, and had some fun. My cornering was not up to it's old standard, but that will come back. And then, on the last lap, I was 15th wheel coming into the last corners, which in reality, it too deep. And someone skipped their rear wheel, and I braked, and I was 30th wheel coming out of the corner, and that was that. Race over. Ate a pizza with Gabe. Hopped on Harley, rode home in the sunshine.
And while the joke was that it was my best Fitchburg overall ever, that's not actually true. Last year I was 37th. Though the year before that I think I was 75th, so...

With few miles in the legs, and not a single road race before this weekend, I finished Fitchburg, nearly comfortably, having a ton of fun, and chomping at the bit for the next race. My mountain bike fitness just got a huge boost (I wanted to say shot in the arm but that seems a bit taboo.)

And now I'm home. Getting ready for worky work.
And it's still sunny