March 22-23, 2003
by Mitch Askew
Brooks from the Mitchman's point of view.
I showed up late Friday night to get my race "bible" packet and pre-rode the TT course in my car in the dark. Driving it in the car with a couple of teammates, the TT course did not seem that bad. Of course, I guess we tend to think and talk big around friends when we are in the car or around a table eating. The weather was perfect and I launched right on Que. About 200 meters down the road, my heart rate spiked from nerves. As my heart rate would start to simmer, I would hit one of the small upgrades and my hear rate would spike again. I could see the rider ahead of me, but knew I would not catch him. The course was hard for me to get a rythem and settle in. I spoke to several other riders who said the same thing. I was going so hard that I had several thoughts of quitting, "why am I doing this", "I am a school teacher", "I don't need/have to do this", and "this isn't any fun". Of course, after it is over my thoughts turn to "I should have gone harder in the middle and end", I really did not go 100%", and "why did I not go faster in the last mile". It is funny that in hind site you think you could have done better, but during the event you just want to quit because you are going 100%.
At the road race I thought I was going 100% similar as in the TT. The first 20 miles of the 52 mile flat to rolling course, I felt the sting of the TT. It was the largest pack I have ever raced in. It felt like a Century. The first lap it was easy to move around the pack. At the beginning of the second lap, there was a wreck. I almost went down, but found myself in 4th position. I remember someone telling me that a wreck is the perfect time to attack. The problem was that I would have 26 miles to go. I decided to just chill. The last 4 miles I found myself in the back along with others complaining about the inability to move in this pack. The 1 KM sign caught me off guard. I found myself in mid pack, and sprinted the last 200 meters for 17 place. When I finished, I realized I still had a lot of energy and power left in my legs. The pace overall was 23, but most of the time we rolled at about 16 mph. None of the teams worked, and it was my first race were there was not one single attack. A few strayed a couple of times but, were pulled back in real quick.
The Crit was 7/10 of a mile with one little crazy corner. The pack was small and it was pretty fun. I was again caught off guard and thinking we still had more time left, looked up to see that we were on our last lap. I spinted for I think 14 or 15. APB had a really good showing and showed a lot of good team work and tactics. My old team mates from Eagle that are on different teams also worked well with one another in the road race for some top 10 finishes. I ate a big'ole slice of humble pie this weekend and realized that there are a lot of great racers out there with a lot of talent.