This was my first big race series and also my first race as a cat 4. Another first was the 1.5 mile time trial. Too long to sprint the whole thing and short enough where you really cant settle in. I knew it was going to hurt and it did not dissappoint. I sprinted off the line into the first 200 meters or so and looking back probably went too hard there - because the next 90 seconds was spent trying to recover from my blow up. Got a bit more comfortable heading into the home stretch and tried to kill it to the line. Out of 58 cat 4's I was sitting in 33rd after the time trial. the leaders were about 30 seconds in front of me - a huge gap when you only ride 1.5 miles.
The crit was something I was really looking forward to. I've come to really like crits and I think I have the potential to do well in them in the future - I feel the more technical the course the better I can do, I love taking high speed turns and cranking on the pedals out of the corners. Anyway, huge field for the crit, it provided plenty of space to sit in out of the wind. I don't think I worked half as hard in the 4 race than I did in the previous 5 race. The course was just so congested I always had a wheel. Sat in for the sprint lap and thought I'd try my luck to move up for the final - although this was a timed series so there wasn't much to be gained from finishing 10th or 30th - maybe 5 seconds at the most. 2 laps to go and speed started to pick up, racers trying to get in position, used the corners to carry speed and pass riders when it opens up. Last lap and I passed about 5 in the chicanes and sprinted to pass a couple more before the line. Finished 11th. Hard to judge how hard the other racers were trying though - I'm sure a lot of them were contents to keep it safe and sit in.
58 mile road race was sunday. This was something I was wanting to really test myself in. the course was fairly hilly which suits me just fine. I've come down to a nice racing weight and my climbing abilities are only getting stronger. The only concern was the distance - this was literally the longest I've ever ridden at once without stopping. We rolled out and headed into some nice twisty hilly roads - pavement was smooth - legs were a bit tired from the day before, not so much from the crit but the time trial just took it out of me. Had a flask full of gel and two bottles on the bike. I almost consumed everything by the time the race was over- gel and water. After about 15 miles I was feeling good, legs were warmed up and was having no problem climbing or keeping pace. We descended a steep hill into a flat about 30 -35mph, heard a crash behind me and caught a glimpse of fellow teammate Steve V. hitting the ground hard. I looked around and didn't see my other teammate Brad and I assumed he went down too. Steve ended up being ok, just a lot of road rash and minor break on the bike, but he was done. Brad wasn't involved and continued on. As we were riding i started having mechanical issues. I thought it was a derailleur pulley gone bad - I was putting huge efforts in to pedal and when i tried to pedal backwards my chain would slack up - crap....I then became really pissed and was thinking maybe I should drop out when we finish the first lap - after about 5 minutes I decided that i'll just ride it out, if i get dropped then i'm dropped, it will be a good workout atleast. Couple more miles and all the vibration must of put whatever was screwed up back in place, I could feel myself pedaling easier and could actually back pedal now -hell yes. this was right before we headed up the big hill to the start finish line. I cranked up it passing about 20 riders on the way up and was feeling great. I started thinking about next time around and maybe I could contend for a podium finish. So the second lap I made sure I kept contact and tried to stay a bit closer to the front - speeds were up and down and approaching the final hill people started getting pretty twitchy - racers were elbowing eachother and shoving around for position. I had to wait about 10 seconds before I could launch and then just hammered it. Passed maybe 5-10 riders and my quads were dead, every pedal stroke felt like they were going to cramp up. With about 40 meters to go I blew up, and sat down and spun across the line. Probably 5 people passed me before I crossed. ended up finishing 14th - not too bad. I was really proud of that race - the distance and the effort. this was probably the first time I felt like a real racer - out of the 5's and racing good mileage with decent results.
Looking forward to future races - we had some teammates who weren't there - Matt P. and Dan O., when we're all together we'll be able to do some damage. Stay tuned.
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