MATT FILE: Training races are for mistakes?

Matt: Second row - red jacket

Training races are for making mistakes right? Well I’ve now done 4 of them in Vancouver over two weekends and made a bunch of mistakes, almost all of which I really should know better then. They run the full gauntlet from eating at the wrong time (a little too late and timed almost perfectly with a fairly harsh acceleration on a hill, resulting in me getting gapped), remembering to think I should pack warm gloves while packing (without actually packing them and then racing in cold rain) to watching the race making break form from the second row of the peleton and thinking it would come back or getting bored in the opening K at piano pace and making the first attack (really just rolled off the front on a climb and set a steady pace but it probably wasn’t the smartest move). All the above being said I did actually manage to finish one in the group, and truth be told it’s early and I’m really none too worried about it.

Anyways, real racing arrives this weekend in the form of the Tour of Walla Walla, which is 4 stages over three days. Not feeling super confident about my form just yet, as last weekend was spent in bed riding out a cold instead of out on the bike, but a couple of people on the team are going pretty well so I’m hoping for the best.

I will let you know how the weekend goes. On a side note, this will actually be my first time racing in the states, so I’m a little curious myself to see how it goes.

Matthew O’Hagan