The Tour of Kansas City, late summer addition, is today and tomorrow. Just two criteriums now. The best race, the Cliff Drive Circuit race couldn’t be included because of road construction.

I knew that it was going to be a stretch doing much tonight. I can’t think of a time when I had a combination of so many things wrong all at once. I got the bad call this morning. MRSA staff. But, I’d already started all the antibiotics because I received so many “convincing” emails telling me nicely that I was crazy. And, they were all correct. But, I decided to go ahead and race. I feel an obligation to racing locally. And, I can always add some sort of help one way or another.

There were around 60 starters on the .9 mile course. It is kind of hard for such a short course. One side is a hill with a technical corner at the bottom. It was nearly 100 degrees today. Not sure what the temperature was at the 8 pm start. It was windy though. Weird. The race started fast. Eventually a break of 13 got away. We had 3 guys in the move with Nick Coil, Bill Stolte and Brian Jensen. Brian has won the race the last two years, so 3 in a row was a goal.

It took most of the race for 9 of the guys to lap us. Only Brian and Bill were in that group. With a few laps to go, Brian got away with Joesph Schmaltz. I thought those were pretty good odds. I ended up leading Bill out the last lap. He jumped a little prematurely and Phil Mann beat him for 3rd. Brian won by a wheel, so 1st and 4th on the day.

Tomorrow is another 75 minutes at 1 pm. It’s going to be hot again. And windy. The antibiotics aren’t going over that good, but I don’t have much of a choice. Plus, it’s a new experience. It was not enjoyable racing tonight. That is putting it mildly But, not bad as sitting there watching from the curb. I don’t have much tolerance for that I’ve noticed.

The 2nd day of this race is in downtown Overland Park, a suburb of Kansas City. It is a mile course, technical, with 6 corners and a hairpin. It was really hot again and really windy. They ran the course backwards compared to all the previous years. It was good in that direction too. The mid day start was going to be a factor. And it was. The same 60 guys started. Right from the gun the pace was lethargic. Everyone felt the same. Overheated. After a few attacks, another big group got away. This time we had 4 guys in it, with Brian and Bill being the most important. A few of the guys in the top 10 yesterday missed the move, so it was good for us. It took a while for the group to go around and take a lap. Most of the 75 minutes. By the time they lapped us, the break was nearly bigger than the remainder of the field. Attrition was rampant.

I was not good. But, not horrible. Just riding around. Doing what I could. I won a prime that no one really contested. And a few other things. Finally we were lapped and the race sped up once more. Everyone was pretty much done though. It split with 3 or so laps to go and 8 guys made that split. We had three, which seemed good. Our main concern was winning overall. 2nd, the race. It went south on the last lap when Alex Welch jumped from the back of the break and rode away. Josh Carter had done everything necessary to win, but missed the move too. I think he was waiting for one of us to chase. He ended up winning the sprint for 2nd. Brian just nipped Joseph for 5th, so Brian was the overall winner again. Bill finished 7th and had a pretty good weekend.

I don’t know what to say. I dislike racing feeling bad, but hate missing races. It’s a catch 22. But, now that it’s over, I’m good with this weekend. I think I might of gained a little form, not much though. I don’t think I hurt anything long term. And I know there is no where to go but up from here.

Hot and uncomfortable for most of the day.