A/C, Furnace and Bicycle Racing

This was a busy week. It all started last Sunday when the temps got up into the 80's. I was dreading turning on our air conditioner, but did it anyhow. It was on the blink at the end of the summer last year. It was having trouble starting up then. Well, when I cranked it up, it wouldn't turn on at all. Nothing! Done! It is a 1982 model therefor has served its purpose. Luckily it wasn't too hot the rest of the week, so we were able to leave the windows open at night so Reese and I could be cool. I then started calling heating and cooling companies to get some bids on a new furnace and a/c. I got about 5 bids and finally got a decent one from a guy down near my school. His kids went through Antonia and was a nice guy. It should be in by next Tuesday. Looks like the highs will be in the 70s this week.

I also had my first race of the year this last weekend. I didn't get a good jump on my training for this season as the weather was cold and wet almost all of March. I gained 10lbs over the winter, so the late start in training has put me in worse shape than the start of last season. I have been training a lot the last three weeks. I was on the bike 11 out of the last 16 days trying to get ready for the Tour of St. Louis. I was able to race this past Tuesday Night to gage where I was at. I came in around 15 to 2oth place, so then decided to give things ago for the weekend.
The Carondolet Park race by my house started out slow with everyone getting a feel for things. It soon picked up creating one massive wreck on the downhill turn. I was near the front, so missed out on that one. I heard it and it sounded bad. My team last three guys on that one, sending two of them to the emergency room. One guy broke his handlebars and cracked his helmet in half. He is OK and even raced again the next day. The race went on with most of the guys getting on after the free lap. Then with two laps to go, their was a pile up on the far part of the course. It was to my left, but somehow everyone got pushed over and I got caught up in it. Luckily I was able to only scrape the curb, stay on my bike and catch back up with the peleton. The race then came down to a sprint, where I finished in 11th place. My sprint was interrupted when I got cut off and had to hit my brakes. I still reached 33mph and was able to finish strong. If I had a better place leading up to the sprint, I may have had a chance at a top 5. Average speed was 24.9mph covering 19 miles.

The Sunday race at Forest Park was expected to be a much safer race and was. No wrecks,but the pace was much faster with quite a bit larger field. It again came down to sprint at the end. I was not as close to the front as I would have liked, but not at the back either. I again had really good legs and had a great sprint finishing in 13th place. I started my sprint late, passing tons of guys topping out at 37mph. The average was 25.4mph covering 19.7 miles. My teammate Dan Young had two second places in the crits and a 3rd in the time trial to win the overall.
With my strong finishes and strong sprints, perhaps this summer will be good racing after all. I had my doubts because of the lack of training over the winter, but perhaps the running up and down on the basketball court and the mountain biking kept me in better shape than I thought.

Cheers