Heading into July, there was much fun to be had at some crits, a road race or two and a time trial whose winner get some fancy jersey).In rough summary, July had some good racing and training with solid miles and some intensity had at some crits. Nate learned that doing long-ish miles and crits back to back doesn't give you good legs, or a tireless back, but had fun racing the San Rafael Crit at the end of a long-ish fun ride and the Lodi Crit the next day, though he pulled out because of back pains about an hour into the race. Definitely core work is a key component of any cyclists training regimen, and one that deserves more attention by Nate.
Later in the month, despite 3 riders being taken from the pre-reg list because of computer and/or human error, only Nate and Stefano Barberi (composite rider from Colorad0) were able to ride the Cascade Cycling Classic. The race had a great course with excellent competition, but the heat took it's toll on Nate, who rode most of the race trying to get into breaks and finishing in the middle of the pack. Still, the experience was good.
More importantly, Steve O'Mara, Lucas and Joe Binder contested the Cat 2 edition of the race. They raced strongly and showed themselves very capable, but unfortunately the cards weren't stacked in their favor, as they came away with some similarly middle-of-the-pack results. No doubt they will learn and come back stronger to future stage races.

Nationals was difficult, with a hot, hilly RR course that took a lot of hard work if you wanted to get in a break. It would have been better to ride conservatively, because Nate overcooked himself racing for a break finish and pulled out after 4 laps, as his break was getting caught. He was able to re-hydrate and ride hard the next day to finish 4th in the time trial, which was a pleasant improvement over the 10th place finish of 2008. For a heavy climber, Nate showed some improvement in his TT abilities in 2009, both at Hood and Nationals.
The highlight of the 2 weeks of riding, for Nate, was the time he spent hanging out with his team and the time spent with his girlfriend, who came up for the first week of the two spent in Oregon. It wasn't bad to take 4th in the National Time Trial, though.





