:: seanlangford ::

Rode the kankamangus highway with rk and dk. Hot hot heat and winds made it challenging. Here is the well earned view from the top.

Lots to catch up on. The trip to Scotland was unbelievable (pics and stories to follow). Some improved racing results, flooding, and other adventures. In the meantime, enjoy this sight of the richardson cows as I did.

Helped my brother finish putting together his new road bike. We took it out for a spin this morning with rk jf and ad. Went up around merrimack, haverhill and newbury. Unbelievably great weather. Good to get out before the big trip. Afterwards took the dogs swimming in boston brook.

Race 9: Turtle Pond

Did turtle pond. The hill took alot out of me; I hung on until the 3rd climb up and then ran out of gas; still feeling the previous 3 weeks of hard training.  This was the first time doing this race.  Alot of fun.  Took the ride up with AD.  The big man took 6th! 

Race 10 & 11: Sturbridge & Palmer Race weekend

It was the first time trying Sturbridge.  I was contemplating racing only Palmer, but I wanted to try and get in a double weekend in preparation for Fitchberg.   It was my first time trying Sturbridge and it was a great, well-run event.  Hats off to Mike Norton and his team.  Here is a snip from topstone foto of my field.  (I am buried in there somewhere).

.  I took it pretty easy in this race; my goal was to stay with the field and not contest the sprint.  For the first time this year I felt fresh and believe I am starting to come around after burying myself the last two weeks of March and the first two weeks of April.  The next day Palmer, was a blast.  This is one of my favorite New England races.  When I think of real road racing, I think of this race.  The sleepy New England towns and quiet roads with beautiful scenery make this a special race for me.  The first two laps, I had great position in the field and felt very strong.  On lap 2 I even tried an attack up the back stretch hill with strongman John Hirsch which was a pre-planned move;  Sadly that was not meant to be; we got reeled in after maybe 1k.  Soon after this attack, the race kinda fell apart for me.  I dropped a water bottle and started to dehydrate; I fell off the back during the last of a series of climbs up the back stretch before coming back out onto 67 and pulled out of the race.  Its been a tough season thusfar trying to come back into the sport after taking 2 years off from racing!  While it is tough, I feel myself making resonably gains in fitness each week which is very rewarding.  The first of the next 2 weeks is a heavy training block with as much climbing as I can muster and the second will be a week of physical rest as I travel for business to Scotland.