Mizzou Race Recap - Ben Siver

Post date: Mar 07, 2012 6:12:38 PM

This weekend started off a lot better than last - we were on the road at a more reasonable hour and rolling in comfort thanks to kind father Bednarz. We were able to take the team trailer, so all of our bikes were nice and cozy for the entirety of the trip. The ride to Missouri was relatively uneventful, at least from my perspective as I opted to roll myself into a cocoon and hibernate for a few hours. At around 1:30AM we arrived at the Candlewood Suites in Columbia, Missouri.

From that point on, our luck spiraled downwards. We were happily greeted by a friendly woman the front desk who informed us that one of our rooms was not ready because another party had gotten that room and complained about it. No big deal, we all decided to wait in the other room. Upon entering the room, a pretty gnarly looking cockroach scampered across the floor. Awesome. Within a few minutes, the woman at the front desk told us the other room was ready and we all were asleep within the next 15 minutes.

We woke up at 6:30 Saturday morning in order to get some breakfast before heading to the road course. Walking downstairs, we soon found out that our hotel did not in fact serve breakfast. Awesome. We were now in a rush to find the nearest breakfast-like place to get some fuel in our bodies before the road race. The best we could do was a gas station near the hotel, and after eating some clif bars we were on our way.

The field for the road race this week was pretty small compared to last week - about 40 riders. We started off into a strong crosswind which kept the pace really slow for the first mile or so. After the first turn, the riders at the front took off and were going about 30. I struggled to hold on but I fell off the pack with a few other guys. I then tried to play catch up for the next couple of miles but couldn't keep up. After a few miles, I noticed Jeff on the side of the road with the follow van. He looked ok so I didn't stop, but I found out later he got into a minor crash that messed up his bike. I ended up spending most of the race working with one other dude who eventually ran out of energy. I felt like I did better than last week although I got the same placing pretty much.

On Sunday, I chose to let Jeff use my bike for the ITT/TTT since his was non-functional. The team ended up doing really well in both events, although Ryan did have a knee problem that prevented him from doing either event. Sunday was pretty boring for me as I played the role of team cheerleader.

As we left Missouri, it had turned into a beautiful day with the sun shining on us and temperatures in the mid 50s. Surprisingly enough, we found ourselves in a terrible snowstorm two hours later in southern Illinois. It was probably some of the worst driving conditions I have seen on the highway; I'm not quite sure how Jeff could even see what was in front of him. Luckily, within an hour or so it had cleared up and we made it home by about 10:00 at night.

Overall it was a good weekend, but there was a consistent amount of petty bickering between the team members throughout the trip. I think everyone kind of got on one anothers nerves at some point, but I hope that in the races to come we'll get to know each other better and attitudes will change for the better.

Goals for next race:

Stay with a group

Leave at a time that allows us to get to our destination before 10:00 PM

Arrive to road race EARLY

No whining