Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Road Race State Champ and WORS #3

Last week Sunday was the Wisconsin Road Race State Championships.  I raced the 4/5’s last year and won.  So I decided to try and make it a repeat in a Cat higher.  Mission Accomplished!      Cat 3 Wisconsin Road Race State Champion and I have to say this ride has got something to do with it!

2011-06-14 23.03.42

This past Sunday was WORS race #3 in Wausau WI, The Trek Big Ring Classic.  After racing very well in the State Champs and feeling amazing on my mid-week intensity ride I had high hopes going in and thought a win was well within reach. 

Here is a great pic of the Pro/Cat 1 start from Amy Dykema.  Spectators were out in full force!

wausau start

Here is my post-race interview which gives a good play-by-play race re-cap

So 5th on the day and depending on how things play out in the series maybe a keeper in the series points.  I will need to do better than that to keep up in the series with Brian and Tristan though.

wausau Nathan podium 2011-3

I saw the allergist mid-week and he warned me the pollen count was going to be very high and even sent a refill of my preventative meds over to the local Walgreens.  Should have gotten them as I ran out of the Anti-Inflammatory Saturday night!  I have grown so accustom to not having reactions since receiving these treatments that I just took it for granted and thought “just don’t panic” all would be ok, how bad could it be right?  WRONG, I once again understand why asthma and allergies are for real and have learned a valuable lesson to take every precaution against them.  I even thought about going to the local Walgreens in Wausau to see if they could transfer from Oconomowoc, should have tried.

I still had a good race though, but was pretty confounded every time I went to push the pace at the front or tried to keep up with attacks. I found every effort well below what I have been doing lately.  But I should have things in order for Subaru Cup.

After the race I stood and talked for a minute or so and then tried pedaling again, instantly I knew my knee was much worse then I had thought it was during the race.  My own diagnosis is “really bad bruise”, but this is on the knee cap, which can really slow you down with all the dependence on bending and stuff.  So ice, elevation, and easy rides/movement have been in order the last 2 days.

This pic does not do the knee justice, but you can see it.  Now if I can only figure out how to be in this position at the finish line, I might actually win a race one of these days…just kidding…kinda...  Med tent said I had a puncture, laceration, and abrasion.  It swelled a bit yesterday.

 Nathan Wausau 2011-2

It is starting to come around though and some hard efforts are in order tomorrow before the toss up between TOAD and The Southern Kettles WEMS race, leaning toward Kettles, my mountain bike misses me I think.  Been lacking the Force lately.

Thanks for reading,

Nathan

Photo Credit: Amy Dykema, Niki Frazier

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh come on now.. A PRO mountain biker like yourself in Cat3 and sandbagging 3 hour WEMS races? Don't you have any integrity? I bet you were a bully in school LOL!

Unknown said...

Talk to WiCycling about the sandbagging, I have been trying to upgrade to Pro1/2 since Spring last year, it took this win to get Cat 2. I could not even get beyond Cat 4 without the State Champs last year. I have been telling them I am Pro MTB for years and race against the P/1/2's every other weekend on the dirt, but they said that does not count. I kept getting mixed responses from other roadies saying I should not be racing the lower Categories, but at the same time saying i have to have the points to upgrade, can't please everyone it seems...
I guess I could just ride at Muir this weekend, but having a number on tends to push your limits a bit more and the entry fee goes to a good cause...anyways, were you the guy always hiding in your locker "anonymous"? ;)

Anonymous said...

LOL! I hid in my locker with a squirt gun waiting for you to walk by ;-) Keep up the great work you look great at the races.

Good luck at Muir... I'm sure you'll crush the sport riders in the 3 hour!

Steve Jeske said...

The explanation sounds pretty solid to me and there is no class designation in WEMS. 3 Hr is not reserved for sports or any other class for that matter. Why the sour grapes "anonymous?". Sandbaggers are out there, but Nate certainly isn't one of them.