CX Worlds Update, Part II: The Seeding Heats

Last night we went out in search for a pre-race meal. Steak and vegetables work best for me. Looking at all the steak restaurants around Louisville it was difficult to find a steak for less than $40. Somehow Louisville has yet to realize that it's not New York City. Seriously underpopulated with douche bags and less likely to come across a rat than you are a raccoon or possum in the city streets (both of which we did), this is no New York City. It should seem you'd be able to find a steak joint where you can get a decent ribeye for $20. We finally found a place that had a $20 steak dinner. It was awesome, problem solved.

Rained hard last night and showered into the morning.. It was pretty much pissing throughout the morning heats as we watched the top 40's and 50's in the country slog through the mud clocking 12 minute laps for just over 3 miles. It was raw and cold and I was as nervous as I've been for a race. Not wanting to warmup in the rain I moved my trainer into a big tent with a heater.. Between the hours of 11:30 and 1:00 the temp dropped a good 10 degrees, it started snowing, and the wind was howling. My move into the tent for warmups was brilliant! I got on the trainer at about noon, the same time that one of the site crews came in for their lunch break. They went over to the heater, sat down, and started smoking butts. I'm doing pre-race intervals sucking in second-hand smoke and getting really pissed off about it. I got off the trainer, walked over to the group, suplexed one of them into the turf, grabbed the cigarette from another one and snuffed it out in the middle of his forehead. The other 3 scurried off with their tails between their legs, dropping their chili dogs and mountain dews on the soggy turf...... As I came out of my daydream, i was finishing up my last pre-race interval as the crew walked past me on their way back to do something useful, I'm sure.

The wind was howling as we staged and the snow was coming hard. It was unreal. The whistle blew and I got my best start in months, blowing through 3 guys in front of me and hitting the turf about 6 or 7 wheels back. But it was short lived. The course is pretty wide open for a loooong time and it was honestly just a miserable fucking slogfest through deep mud and turf. The only technical parts of the course were unrideable and we spent a considerable amount of time running. I lost my right hand to the wet/cold about halfway through the first lap and spent the rest of the race slapping at the shifter sometimes successfully, others not so much. At least a dozen times I shifted into a harder gear when I was looking for an easier one. This was a massive effort where the most watts wins. Not the best situation for me, but I was hoping to be able to manage a 3rd row seeding for finals. This would require I get 12th.. I managed to work my way into 12th place and I knew I could hold off the guys I had just passed, but as we passed the pits with about 1/3 of a lap to go somebody came out of the pits following a bike change and the clean bike had him flying.. I had contemplated taking a clean bike, but I had just passed a couple guys to get myself into 12th and I didn't want to have to chase back on with less than a third of a lap to go, clean bike or not. The guy coming out of the pit rode away and I came in at 13th.. I'll have a 4th row start for finals. A little dissapointing, but with a good start and a clean race I think a top 20 can happen. I'd be real happy with that.

I spent a good hour shaking, the first 20 of it getting my right hand unfrozen which brought excruciating pain, bringing back memories of going hypothermic in Warwick a couple years ago. It is now well below freezing and is supposed to stay there for the next 36 hours. The course will most likely go from a slogfest, to a treacherous maze of icy ruts.. I'll take that over the bog we raced in today. Time to rest up and get ready for the Finals. I'm pretty determined to crush it on Saturday...