GMSR Bound

I'm sitting in one of those huge, tacky New Jersey Mega-diners. I'm not sure if chicken gyros are carbo-loading, but it'll have to do.

The past few weeks have all been preparation for GMSR: the biggest race of the season. with 4 stages and racing up and down the appalachians, its supposed to be a hard, hilly, and grueling race. Talent from all over the northeast shows up to compete. obviously this race is a great match for my mediocre abilities...

Our whole team is pumped for this- we've got 14 teammates driving up to take part. up until last week, our workouts had been getting more and more intense, and we all got our lactate threshold tests re-done and we've been racing much more aggressively in CRCA races. I've really been enjoying how we've been racing at the CRCA races. using tactics that actually work makes for a much better race experience- as of late, the crca B races have been challenging, fun and rewarding- a few weeks ago we all just started to click. It's great to have teammates who will bury themselves so that another teammate can win. OK, i'm done fanboying my own team...

I'm pumped to take 6 days off and hang out in vermont- i've got it all planned out. my VT weekend will consist of the following:

1) eating pancakes and maple syrup
2) racing GMSR
3) eating more pancakes and maple syrup

it goes without saying, but I'm obviously not racing GMSR to win. I'm going to try and make some moves in the circuit race and the Crit, but i have no idea how that's going to play out given how deep the fields will be. So why take part in a race you don't think you can win?

'cause it's going to be fun as hell.

It might come off as defeatist, but i'm not going up to GMSR to win. I'm going to ride my ass off, and any results that come as a result of that are going to be all the sweeter, but taking a race like GMSR too seriously results in less fun for me. I'm not a pro, have no plans to even try and be one, and i'm paying to play this game. If you're not having fun you're doing it wrong.


That being said, I'm still planning on racing as hard as I can. I'd like to top 25 in the GC and podium in the circuit race and crit (barring any crashes in the crit, cuz we all know how much i love crashing in crits...)

in order to fully take advantage of stage 1's new cannibal rules, I've been training on a smaller bike just to fuly take advantage of a more aero position without breaking the cannibal rules...



Good luck to everyone this weekend- the weather's going to be beautiful, and the climbs are gonna be brutal.

I wonder if i can use maple syrup instead of gels...