Rarely, if ever, have I had such a good week. And the sweetest part was off the bike!

Prentice Hospital, Wednesday

Team Amstutz grew by one member Wednesday with the birth of a baby girl, Emerson. Elizabeth, my wife, was thrilled to get her upgrade from pregnant to mother (again) and is now home and doing well. Emerson is with her and fueling up frequently for her training regimen of sleep, eat, void, repeat.

Brother Nicholas is prepping for his role of team leader, putting Daddy's medals around his neck, throwing a leg over the tricycle and yelling "bike race!" as he scoots into the nearest wall/finish line.

I'll post pictures in the forum.

Tour of Elk Grove, Saturday Cat 4

For the first time, the registration table was checking categories on the license and barring me from entering since mine still said Cat 5. I needed to race 4s today, since it was the first race of the day and Elizabeth was eagerly waiting for me to pick her and Emerson up at the hospital at 11:00. Thankfully, I found our local uscf official who had upgrade stickers and I got in.

I was little skeptical going into this race, since I'd crashed at Bensenville in a tight/short crit, and ridden conservatively at Kenosha. But more than anything, I wanted to win here after not winning during Superweek.

Thankfully, I'd learned one big thing from my training this week. Randy had me doing 200 meter sprints, which I realized is about 1/2 as far as I'd been trying to sprint during races. Maybe this time I'd be able to wait, rather than lead out the eventual winner.

I spent the first lap locating a couple trusty wheels and letting them know I was there and ready to work together, following Pat Kelly's advice to "ride next to teammates."

In addition to teammates right around me, we had a number of guys working hard, launching off the front and keeping teams guessing. XXX has clearly earned respect this season, from the time our attackers were called "yams" to now, where any XXX attack causes a ripple of responses from the field.

So I used the primes to practice holding back and sprinting later. I screwed up the first one, coming to the front with 350 meters to go and getting passed with 100 meters to the line. I got the second one right, coming around at 200 meters and taking the $50.

Then came the last lap and finish. With a short race, a lot of guys had the legs to contest. VQ had done well recently, and so when Ansgar came by in the finishing straight, locked on the VQ leadouts wheel, I knew that was the move. Thankfully, I was right and was able to get onto Ansgar's wheel and follow him to about 150 meters where I gave it the gas and came around for the win. Ansgar was able to jump too, taking 3rd. A nice day for XXX.

Tour of Elk Grove, 3/4 race Sunday

So I got my Cat 3 upgrade sticker after Saturday's race, and came back for more on Sunday. I'd posted on the forum that I'd been told Cat 3 races aren't that much faster, but have more team tactics. This race actually seemed faster, and certainly had more team tactics.

The race was short, there were primes every lap, and the clif Bar, ABD and LOT teams were all out in force. The cliffies attacked early and often, making their presence felt. But it was Pony Shop who got the first prime.

I tested the legs on that prime and learned that I could actually position myself and compete in a 3s sprint. I also learned that I had limited reserves that day and should probably conserve for the finish. Lack of sleep with a new baby, coupled with a race the day before put me down a bit from where I'd liked to have been.

So I waited for the finish. clif Bar again led out, with 5 guys stringing it out with a full 2.3 mile lap to go. I got in about 15th wheel, behind a couple ABD guys and the 3 man LOT team. I knew some of the finishers, and specifically was watching for the Pony Shop guy who'd won Saturday's cat 3 race.

As we made the last turn, I saw Pony Shop working his way up on the right. I was stuck out on the left, but followed an ABD wheel up to about 6th with 300m to go. Pony Shop had help and they jumped, forcing me to try to counter from across the field.

I wasn't able to get over to his wheel, but passed all but 2 other guys in my effort. I finished 4th in my first cat 3 race - worse than I would have liked but still a result I can feel good about.

One big thing I learned is how different a race can be when there are multiple teams with multiple guys with legs. The finish still feels the same, a battle for position and an all out scrum for the line. But the race takes on a different tone and the energy needed to fight for position and pace is much greater if you're going it mostly alone.

The good news - with the slate of power and experience we've got in the current and soon to be 3s, XXX should be a team to watch in the races and season to come. It's been fun in the 4s, and it'll be even more fun in the 3s.