VOS 2008

Well, 4 burritos, 3 days of racing, lots of cereal, and now I'm on a jet plane back to Denver. This weekend was all about getting some racing kms, getting back in the game, and proving anything is possible with determination, hardwork, and help from friends and family. Today's criterium was 40min in length. It was a fairly tight figure-8 course with a few nasty little bits in the turns. After the first loop, as you make your way to the second loop there was a concrete median with a few haybales. I was hoping they would have put a flag up to mark the bales b/c it was sometimes hard to see. Even the Belgians have flagwavers when the road splits, but racing is a little more proper in Belgium in my humble opinion.Having no racing kms in the legs prior to this weekend, my pack positioning definitely needed a little tune-up. I had a hard time following wheels in the beginning, but I guess it doesn't matter where you are until the last few laps. Except that its less energy usage while riding from the front. So with 4 to go, i made a sweet move up the ride side when the field slowed. Looking back perhaps I should have just gone for it from there. I was sitting good on 3rd wheel with 2 to go and thinking in my head, I'm going to make a move but I just needed a little bit more speed to spread the field out some more. I watched the sides and had elbows out and shut doors on people to preserve as much as i could. But the left side filled in and I saw my sweet position and options lessen. Trying my best to push my way through, I didn't get what i needed. So i lined up for the sprint but just didn't have the speed to get it. I'm pretty confident I was around 12th but race officials had me at 17th. Unfortunately, the VOS officials weren't good about getting results up too quick and by the time I was able to check it, they were official and no changes could be made. Whatever, I had a great weekend, and I proved a lot to myself about what is possible.

Now, getting back to what is possible and some of my race commentary and observations. On July 26, I used ever ounce of energy to pull myself out of the ditch, get up, and hobble towards the road hoping i would see Diana. It was one of those moments in life where you muster up some unbeknown strength. This weekend I did so much for myself and hopefully others by racing hard and getting back to the sport i love. I always said, "All great champions must face their worst before they can display their best." Laying in Westchester Medical Center with my family nearby, I was clearly at the bottom as far as I have experienced. My comeback began when i made those first steps out of the ditch and this weekend's racing proved I'm on the right track to do something amazing. For all of you out there who have gone through something lifechanging, I hope you continue to improve and I want to share all my success this weekened and this year with you. Because its more than just about me, 1000s of people go through recoveries or tragedies every day and mine is no worse or more shocking than anyone else.

To some racing commentary...I continued to overhear riders in the peloton today talking about how much wattage they had to just put out or how much they did in the sprint. Okay so maybe its cool to see a new max effort, but racing is about making your bike go fast and minimizing your efforts while exploiting others. so if you had to put in 500watt 10sec effort to get back on, what the hell where you doing to put yourself into that position. Now crashes and mechanicals are one thing but losing focus on the wheel in front of you isn't. I'm not saying i followed wheels perfectly today, but I did make moves when i needed too and minimized my efforts. Focus on the race, not on the power meter, your heart rate or your speed. Those are all distractions. you don't see many pros with all the gadgetry in the races. The biggest difference between racing here in the 2,3s vs belgian kermesses is that everyone here thinks they are a sprinter and no one wants to take any chances. Racing is up and down and the field stays together. In Belgium, the race would have been shredded to 10-15 riders in the lead group from the start of 100. today, we had nearly every one of the 100 starters finish. its the lack of attacking and the large teams not wanting to do anything. if you have a large team, I would be really pissed as a director if my guys didn't make shit happen. Sitting around for leisure rides is stupid.

Okay now to my stupid comment of the weekend. A rider from NorCal says that he didn't start the crit b/c he didn't want to have his poor results from stage 1 or 2 to go on his record. now, I am sure they will still show up. But my point is WTF are you racing for if you are too damn scared to get a less than perfect placing. This kind of attitude totally sucks and I would never want to be associated with anyone that takes on that philosophy in any sport or job. Not every race can be won. Every race you should learn something and eventually, things will come together for you and you will rock it. Taking this attitude will never lead you to greater results or performance. I worked my ass of to get back to where i am, and here is some kid who is so damn focused on his permanent record that he would stop racing just so it didn't tarnish his average palmares. People just don't get it sometimes. If you ever feel I am leaning that way or sympathizing then tell me its over and I will no longer be a bike racer. It reminds me of being at Cascade last year. I totally screwed the crit by crashing then got sick. Do I stick with it and finish? Hell yeah I do. I learned so much about myself that last day when i got dropped on the first climb on sunday and crawled my way around the next 59 miles by myself. I finished 22min off the lead. Shitty result, but who cares. Everybody has their bad days. but its the worst days that stregthen you more than your good days. b/c on good days, its easy to ride. But on your toughest days, those are the days when champions shine.

Chow,
Matthew