The Snake Alley Criterium is at 4 this afternoon. It’s one of my favorite races of the season, if not my favorite. The course is super hard and technical. But, today might not be my day. It is raining already and there are even odds that it is going to be wet later this afternoon. I’ve won the race in the rain before, it would usually suit me, but for the first race back from shoulder surgery, this wouldn’t be close to my first choice.

Yesterday I raced the Burlington Road Race. I did okay. It was the perfect race for me, long and pretty easy. It was easy because I didn’t participate in the race. I kind of blew it earlier in the day, missing a turn about 30 miles out of Burlington and taking a 30 mile detour. That made me late for the race.

The race started out super quick, mainly because we were riding with a strong tailwind. Within just a couple miles a huge group was up the road. I didn’t care, like I said I was there for the race miles. Cole House asked me if I thought that it was done. I told him absolutely. He then proceeded to ride up to the break.

Once the 15 or so guys were away, it got pretty civil. We were going pretty good, but mainly because of the wind. I think we hit the turn around a little under 29 mph and we were 5 minutes down on the break. Coming back into the headwind it slowed. About 1/2 way back the race started up again. Eventually 20 more guys rode away. I was left in a big group of riders just going back to the finish. I felt pretty bad at the turn around, 50 miles into the race. My hamstrings were burning , probably from sitting in the car 400 miles right before the start. At the end I felt alright. Nothing stellar, but pretty good considering it is the longest I’ve ridden a bike in months.

I have to admit my crotch was wasted after the race. I had to ride the majority of the last 30 minutes or so off my seat. It must be a position thing. Too much pressure on too small a spot. Whatever the reason, I need to fix it.

Okay, I need to go over the the course and register. The hotel has a shitty breakfast so I’m going to search something better out. Nothing like a rainy Saturday to do that. It is going to be leisurely until it gets super intense later this afternoon. I like those days.