March-April

The weather in Minnesota this spring has been super erratic with rain, snow, sleet, and 70 degree days, sometimes all in the same week. I dare not cancel my Zwift subscription just in-case we get another crazy weather system in the next month or so, with Minnesota you never know. Going from trainer workouts to riding outdoors and back again has been annoying but a necessary evil in order to be ready for all the racing coming on the horizon.

Barry Roubaix will be my official season opener this year and I will again be racing the 62 mile version as it ends up being the most competitive. This goes against the stereotype of most gravel races nowadays where the longest event is the Mac daddy, uber competitive distance. The race always seems to play out the same way being a massive fight for positioning during the first hour and a half through sandy MMRs. This is where the front group is decided and it is also where I end up being too far back and miss the move. Hopefully this doesn’t happen this year but you never know how things are going to play out until you are there in the heat of the race.

Group rides are also starting up which means this first month will be controlled chaos as everybody measures themselves and their fitness against each other. From the Zwift Hero to the fresh parent to the over eager junior kid, everyone starts the season from someplace different. I actually love this part of the year because you’re seeing fresh faces, people are raving about all the European races, and folks are sizing up new bikes. Everyone is just pumped about all things bikes. So even if the group rides are a little wonky, getting back together with the community is worth our long winters in Minnesota.