Eagle, ID — The second Nampa criterium was tonight and it was another great workout. These last few days I have finally been feeling normal again, which is to say, much better! I had some good training rides since my long ride on Monday and when I did my warm-up before the crit tonight, I was able to ride my threshold wattage without much effort. I think I am finally out of my over-training hole! My plan was to race aggressively and get a hard workout in, and that I did.

I went from the gun, as usual, and was off the front for the first couple laps. After the lead group caught me, I remained active at the front, either going solo or joining small breaks. Once my teammate Ted came to the front, I slipped back a few places and watched from behind. I guess I wasn’t watching closely enough, because Andre got off solo and was able to stay away for the win. So the rest of us were racing for second, although I didn’t realize it until one lap to go. So much for paying attention! Part of the problem was that there were a lot of lapped riders scattered on the course. It was hard to tell if anyone was up the road.

Plus, the lapped traffic made the last few laps dangerous as there was good 5 MPH difference between the lead group and the lapped riders, and the course was pretty tight. Fortunately we were able to weave our way through them for the final sprint and I ended up 5th. Ted was just behind me a few spots, I think around 8th. Overall it was a good training race, but I was disappointed that my top end is still lacking. My threshold power is really good right now, but once I’m over threshold, I can’t hold it for too long. But that should all come as I continue on my training plan which should have me peaking the first week of May.