The entire week leading up to West Branch I was really excited. However everything that could have gone wrong Friday did. In the morning packing I badly pinched a nerve in my back, killing my mobility and leaving me in tons of pain. I had already paid and signed up to race, so I figured I would give it a shot anyways. Then driving up to the race I got my first speeding ticket ever. I wasn’t really driving faster than anyone else. I just was that unlucky one in the pack. At least I had a nice place to stay on Houghton Lake nearby.
Anyhow putting Friday behind me I tried to be optimistic about Saturday. On schedule was a 65 mile road race with one crazy finishing hill. It was a three lap circuit around the surrounding of West Branch. The morning started out in the 60’s with some scattered rain showers. For the first 20 miles of the race I felt fairly good. Spoke to soon maybe, because at mile 21 my back finally gave out on me. I toughed out another 23 miles, but decided to call it a day and focus on the criterium tomorrow. I absolutely hate giving up in a race, but I race for fun…and it’s no fun when your back is killing you.
Sunday was a completely different day, I woke up and the sun was blazing. On tap was a 40 minute criterium near downtown West Branch. The circuit was about 1 mile long and the roads were in good shape for some very fast racing. It was much warmer, so my back was feeling better. Maybe to warm as it was pushing into the mid 80’s at race start, warmest day of the year to date. Warming up I felt really good. The race started blazing fast. My heart rate was idling near 185 bpm. About 10 minutes in my stomach turned into a giant knot, the heat was really getting to me. I hung on though. For most the race I was hanging near the back with two of my team mates. Everything went wrong though at about minute 26 when one of my team mates started to suffer heat stroke. As I was about to pass him he kind of bonked to the extreme. I picked an awful line to try and pass him on the inside and when he bonked I lost my line and had to brake hard. By the time I got back up to speed the pack was a good clip ahead into a head wind. I pushed myself really hard and got back on the back, but at the first acceleration I wasn’t recovered yet and got dropped again. I could have just ridden the last ten minutes out, but at this point I was really disappointed. Not every weekend pans out like you plan, so I decided to pack it up and enjoy the weather. 
Memorial Day weekend is Das Tour of Frankenmuth.
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