I didn't have any real goals for this race besides finishing in the pack and wasn't sure how it was going to play out. The course is fairly flat with some average rolling hills. The team thought it could go both ways as far as the pace for the race. It could be hardcore because its flat and there is no place to rest or it could be chill because you aren't working so much with no hills. We arrived after I got lost to the race course. Thankfully I found some bikers on the road that pointed us in the right direction. Of course if I listened to my co-pilot Lindsay, we would have never got lost to begin with as she just told me the exact direction that the cyclist told me... We got set up with our canopies and trainers. The teams that put on the race were a bit under staffed and didn't have enough forms to fill out so we sat there in line for 20 minutes. Then I had to go to the bathroom so bad waiting in line I got registered and went to another line and stood there turning blue and loosing my vision for another 20 minutes. All that done and over with I went back and hung out with the team and talked a little stragedy. The weather was pretty good with no rain but cold. They split the Cat 4/5 field because there were about 100 or so racers total. We were set to do the 12 mile course with 4 laps for a total of 48 miles. As we lined up for the start all the Cycle U guys immediately moved to the front of the line waiting for the start. Mike and I led off and rode at the front of the field for the neutral start which lasted a 1/4 mile or so. Once we passed that point it was relatively calm for a couple miles. Then the same guy that blew up the Mason Lake race a couple weeks back did the same thing. It had to of been the worst lap ever! The whole field didn't want him to get away so everyone whicked it up a notch. Luckily we had a couple guys go with him and the break was at around 8 or 9. Cycle U had two guys in there, Travis and Evan. Travis didn't stick with them and fell back with us but Evan stuck it out and hung with them. Again the first lap was horrible. We were at one point in the pack cruising around 30 mph. The next lap was alot calmer and much more enjoyable. The break wasn't coming back to the field as they already had a minute or so lead on lap 2. There were really no sketchy moments through out the race. We caught Evan towards the end of lap 3. I felt bad for him as he was in the break for so long. He jumped right in to the pack and at that point I moved to the front and we started increasing the pace a bit.
Final lap and I wasn't sure what we were going to do as a team towards the finish, since we weren't going for the win. Gerrit decided to make some people suffer as he sprinted off the front of the pack and yelled "come on, come on". Mike, Tony and myself jumped out of the saddle and sprinted with him but the pack caught back up to us a few seconds later. It was fun and we made some people hurt for sure. We went passed the 1k to go sign and I was near the front on the shoulder side. Next thing I know I see the 200 sign and I am still kinda stuck on the shoulder. There was enough room for me to squeeze up the side but it was going to be close. I sprinted and yelled "on your right" as I made my way up the right side. It actually worked out pretty well as I finish in 8th place overall. The race was alot of fun and the weekend in general was a great time.
Cycle University and myself will be racing at, "Team Group Health Independence Valley Road Race" this Saturday. I must say it is a very addictive sport, this bicycle racing is. Who would think, suffering on a bike for 2 hours burning 2000 plus calories and sitting on a little seat would be a good time???
Hmm...
Photgraphs were taken by the lovely Lindsay!
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