Even the best make mistakes

If you watched the race today in Begium, you saw that one of the world's best racers made an embarrasing mistake... He started to post up before crossing the line and got nipped at the line. I never expected Tom Boonen of team Quick Step to make a mistake such as this especially considering Boonen started his sprint early. He got nipped at the line by Mark Cavendish of team High Road, but half a wheel.

Let this be a lesson for all racers out there... It is much more important to practice your sprint and bike throw, than it is to practice your post up. If Boonen had held his sprint and did a bike throw there is not doubt that he would have been the winner.

First Race of the Season & other updates

I had my first race of the season yesterday. It was a blast. First, kudos to Burnham Racing for putting on a great race at a great venue. These guys need to right a book on how to put on your first race as this was the first race for this team.

I raced the masters 4/5 & cat 3/4. Since I haven't lost the weight
using the "hope" diet (I hope I lose the weight), I had modest goals.
For the masters 4/5, I decided I would be aggressive and see what
would happen. I attacked a few times, bridged to a solo break and won the prime. I was cooked after the prime. There were only 2 laps left after the prime which wasn't enough time for me to recover and get good position for the finish at this time of the year so my final position wasn't very good. That is ok because I did exactly what I planned.

For the second race, I had much more modest goals. I knew the pace
would be faster so I decided to sit in and hang on. I had not tested
my fitness so I thought this would be a good plan. I rode the race
near the back and watched a number of riders get popped, especially
during the last 2 laps. I passed at least 15 guys during the final
400 meters to take... 49th. :-). It wasn't about the place; it was
about ralizing how much I had left. Again, I accomplished my goal for
the race.

Considering my weight is still high and I have less than 1000 miles in
my legs this year, I have to give most of the credit to my new bike,
my new Specialized Tarmac Pro. I love it. It really made a big
difference. I can't wait to see what the rest of the year holds as I
lose wait and my form improves.

Also, it was fun to watch the riders I am coaching. While they are at
different abilities, I felt they did extremely well!