Raced locally yesterday. That was pretty convenient because it was the only way I was going to race. I have been sick all week. Strep throat. Penicillin injection. Now it seems like it’s a sinus thing. Maybe just allergies. I don’t know anymore. Whatever the cause, I haven’t ridden that much the last week, since Joe Martin. It has been raining a ton and I’ve been sleeping a lot. That makes it for short days.

Sunday the race was in Auburn, only 15 miles from my house. The course is wonderful. Out towards the start of the Flint Hills, which is pretty scenic. It was 67 miles. 2 loops of a 28 mile loop, plus riding out there and back. It was only in the upper 50’s and the rain held off, which was great.

I wasn’t looking forward to a local race. Usually those races take way too much energy. Lots of jumping. Lots of guys chasing me. But, that wasn’t the case here. Exactly the opposite really.

Brian was animated as usual at the start. He doesn’t really like to JRA. Less than 5 miles into the race, I rolled off the front with Adam Mills, Mercy Cycling and Matt Pfannenstiel, Team Colavita/Parisi Coffee. And that was it. It was really enjoyable. We all just rotated for pretty much the duration of the race.

It allowed me to try to get my legs back. It never really happened. But, I wasn’t horrible either. We had nearly a 27 mph average after the first hour and a half. The was virtually no wind. That is very, very usual for here.

There was only one climb per lap. We call it Girl Scout Hill since there is a Girl Scout camp at the top. I waited until the 2nd time up the hill to try to break it up. After a few digs, Matt got shelled. He was a Cat 5 last season and has decimated the fields moving up to Cat 2 this year. He was riding very good and deserved his 3rd place finish. Adam was going well himself, but I am much faster at the end. So, I won. Behind us, in the field, it turned into an attack fest. Bill finally got away to finish 4th on his own and Nick outsprinted a small group to finish 5th.

I’m pretty tweeked today. That is to be expected. Hard pedaling in cold conditions, sick, isn’t the best things for your legs. But, I don’t feel any worse. Maybe a little better. The mornings are not a good time to do a systems check.

There are a few options for next weekend, and then a big block of hard races start. It isn’t really a bad time to be sick, but I’m kind of sick of it already.

The prize of the day. This was supposedly a prime for the top of the hill. We decided it was destined to be in Joseph Smaltz's possession though. He could barely fit it in his car.