Tour d'Burg

While the rest of the world focuses on the Tour de France, Sunday my focus was on the Tour d'Burg (short for Miamisburg). While the best cyclists in the world roll past wineries, chateaus, and French farmland, the best cyclists in Ohio rolled past shirtless dudes with mullets and Daytonian suburbia with a hint of reefer. That's right. For the second year in a row, the Tour d'Burg would play host to the Ohio State Criterium Championships. And for the third year in a row, yours truly was there.

Coming off of a solid performance the day before and having finished second in the state last year, confidence was running high. I again had the whole family on hand to provide for the largest cheering section (special thanks again to everyone and to Chad for the photos), so lining up at the front for the start was easy; getting clipped into my pedals was another story. This is why lining up and staying at the front is important; it keeps you out of trouble. After some difficulty, I managed to settle myself down and begin battling for position. About five laps in, and all but a few of us were still jostling. There would be the occasional unsuccessful attack on the front, but largely, it seemed like the rest of the group had been broken like rented mules. Everyone just putting in an appearance and keeping the crit uneventful.

No complaints here. After barrelling through a cobbled section and getting closed out in a turn (I've never gripped the bars so hard. I thought my hands would fuse to the drops!), I was just happy not to have gone down. I felt great overall during the race. My legs had loosened up and I even managed to shoot my wife a smile about midway though. I'd been working on some speed techniques and decided to try them during the race. While staying in the same gear, I try to raise my cadence (rpm) but not my effort. I call it "keeping my legs light" (which is what I repeat to myself in my head). It seems to keep the lactic acid out of my legs while keeping my speed high.

I held steady at the front and had great position on the final few laps (which were miscounted by the officials). Despite this error and despite not getting out of the saddle for the sprint, I still managed a respectable eighth place (which would've been third had they counted laps

correctly). This is the kind of retrospective thinking to be careful of; over-analyzing, second guessing, hindsight etcetera. If you asked me during the field sprint if I gave it my all, I could not have answered you. I could barely breathe. Had you asked me again afterwards, I would have said that I should have gone earlier.

If instead of continuing this discussion with your conscience, you choose to learn from it, you will be rewarded. Next week, we will see if my experience pays dividends.