A week in Austin

As mentioned in the other post Andrew, Gonzo, Benji, me and my girlfriend Christine stayed in Austin after Pace Bend for a week. Thanks to the UT cycling house for letting us stay there for that time. We got some real good training rides in and I also got to spend some down time with Christine chilling out at the local coffee shops while the boys went exploring the UT campus (I’m sure you’ll get to read on their adventures on the respective blogs). All in all it was a fun week and we finished it up with the Saturday road race at Lago Vista. We rode pretty well as a team, Andrew making the lead group and Benji and myself controlling any attacks. Unfortunately, Andrew couldn’t quite hang with the leaders towards the end of the race. I took a flyer with one lap to go and got a good gap but got caught with about 500 meters to go. Not that it would have made a big difference as I was only racing for 5th. Benji ended up finishing 13th, I finished last of the pack and Andrew had already called it quits as soon as he got caught by the pack…

Sunday we were back in Dallas and Demian, Christine and I drove up to Bar-H to race some dirt for a change. Mad Duck supplied me with a bike to race on (thanks for that by the way) and after a little playing around with it I had it to where I felt comfortable enough on it despite freezing temperatures (we started at 9 am and it was about 27). The race went really well even though I could definitely feel my legs from the previous day effort. I ended up riding away with a win, the first of the season.

Right now we are sitting in St. Francis, LA killing some time and getting ready for Rouge-Roubaix tomorrow. Everyone is really hot and ready to race. Hopefully we will make it though without any technical issues… 20 miles of gravel roads hold a lot of potential for flats. I’m optimistic though and I am convinced will do just fine.