Sharpening The Focus

Back on May 8 I dropped several events that had been on my cycling calendar.  Today I am dropping two more.

The WEMS race at Suamico on July 7 is out.  Instead of traveling to a 3-hour endurance mountain bike race north of Green Bay, I would be better served by spending the afternoon at Crystal Ridge in Franklin, site of the Alterra Coffee Bean Classic.  Sure, I will have an opportunity to pre-ride Crystal Ridge on July 14 before the WORS race there on July 15, but the additional practice time would be very helpful.  A good result in that race would keep me in the hunt for the overall series title in the Cat 3 (Citizens) 40-49 age group.

Wisport’s Kirke Vei Time Trial in Cottage Grove is out too.  Last year it added a burst of intensity in my preparations for cyclocross, but this year WORS is serving that function.  The Subaru Cup begins on the same day as the time trial—August 18—and I would rather be at Nordic Mountain watching the pros, helping friends and teammates, and getting familiar with that course before my own race there on August 19.

My energies and my cycling budget have to stay focused on WORS through the end of July.  In August I will juggle my remaining mountain biking ambitions with my need to train specifically for the cyclocross season that will begin on Sep. 8.  This evening I participated in the last of this year’s practice crits at Stocky’s, which may have been road bike workouts but certainly did nothing to hurt my anaerobic conditioning.  That aspect of my fitness still needs a lot of work before ’cross begins, so maybe I’ll turn Tuesdays into time trial days.

By removing two races that didn’t fit any competition or training needs, the run-up to cyclocross season now looks like this:

06/24 Red Flint Firecracker (WORS) @ Eau Claire
07/15 Alterra Coffee Bean Classic (WORS) @ Franklin
07/22 Sunburst Showdown (WORS) @ Kewaskum
08/19 Subaru Cup (WORS) @ Mt. Morris
08/26 Reforestation Ramble (WORS) @ Suamico
09/08 Sheboygan Bicycle Company Classic (WCA Cyclocross)

The newly-created gaps in my race schedule give me an opportunity to fine-tune my training and to ensure I’m getting adequate rest.