CCTT #2 Report

If this report had a more clever title it would be "Try to improve, I dare you!"Cherry Creek Time Trial Series race #2 was quite windy to say the least. The day started pretty calm but the winds kicked up something fierce in the early afternoon and never let up. Marni and I rolled out from Westy and battled traffic for a while before arriving at our new warm up spot at the school.Scottina and Melissa were already there warming up so we got changed and headed down to the restrooms prior to our warmup. I think Marni got quite a scare in the women's restroom with all the girls talking about how scary it was out on course in the wind. It was much more relaxing this week though not having to get our numbers despite the wicked wind that had kicked up. By the time we got back to the car it seemed as if everyone else had joined us. We had the full crew with Bill, Dinh, Erik, Michelle, Mike, Jeanie, Marni, Scott, Melissa and me all there. Warmups went pretty smooth with the Element playing huge wind block. The wind still liked to grab my front wheel on the rollers a bit but it was plenty manageable.Eventually warm ups were done and we rolled down to the start to face our challenge. Marni's parents were there again this week and it was really fun to get to see them before the start and hear them cheer us on. First I was off and then Marni 20 seconds back.My race went well. My legs are still in early taper mode which means blah but they were at least much better than at the Roubaix on Saturday. I pushed hard into the wind passing people right and left. The big downhill into the turnaround was quite interesting as I got airborn for a second in the aerobars at 42.1mph! I think the course worker probably had a chuckle when I screamed a bit. After the turnaround I did my best to harness the crosswinds into forward momentum but I was pretty gassed pushing the big ring into the headwinds. Finally I got out of the trees and started to pickup a crosstailwind and then a full on tailwind. 30-35mph cruising never felt so good. I gave it my all with my left calf starting to revolt near the line. I saw Marni's parents as I crossed the line and eventually circled back to hang out with them and cheer everyone else on.Everyone came along pretty fast except for Dan the man who flatted and Scott rode out to rescue him with a tube and CO2. Marni ripped it across the line only a little over a minute slower than last week which was awesome. Way to go babe! Final results put everyone slower than last week although the Brevoort's were the big winning couple with both of them less than 60 seconds slower than the week before. Way to go Mike and Jeanie! Marni and I weren't far being them though :D

Full Crew Results Race #2 (Final)
Scott De Leeuw - 32:53.5 - 19.2 mph - 65th of 71 - Sr 4 Men 35+
Dinh Le - 55:52.4 - 11.3 mph - 71st of 71 - Sr 4 Men 35+ (flat tire)
Bill Henderson - 29:29.3 - 21.4 mph - 20th of 23 - Sr Men 35+
Mike Brevoort - 30:08.8 - 20.9 mph - 45th of 62 - Sr 4 Men
Erik Arentzen - 30:36.3 - 20.6 mph - 50th of 62 - Sr 4 Men
Chris Plesko - 26:10.9 - 24.1 mph - 8th of 62 - Sr 4 Men
Marni Plesko - 36:10.0 - 17.4 mph - 25th of 32 - Sr 4 Women
Melissa Clark - 39:00.4 - 16.2 mph - 31st of 32 - Sr 4 Women
Jeanie Brevoort - 36:18.3 - 17.4 mph - 26th of 32 - Sr 4 Women
Michelle Arentzen - 32:33.8 - 19.3 mph - 16th of 32 - Sr 4 Women After the race we all waited around for the results and took a group picture before heading off to Snooze for Dave Nice's GDR Fundraiser party. I think a good time was had by all there so it was quite a sucessful night for everyone. Hopefully next week it won't be so windy!