A .7 mile asphalt, almost oval, loop around a parking lot beside the soccer stadium. The asphalt is new, smooth, and super fast! The wind was moderately blowing, the temp. around 45. This seamed chilly at first, but was good for racing.
Registration went smooth, and the warm up on the trainer felt good. Greg and I went to ride a few laps, and that seemed to be going good too until we got yelled at! The roadie head honcho dude, who I don't know, or know his name, yelled in the gruffest voice imaginable "Change your numbers!" as we passed. Were our numbers defective? Did our numbers (203 & 204) add up to his age? We pulled off the track in bewilderment, feeling like I was 16 and had just been scolded by my first girlfriends father. Finally figuring the numbers were pinned to our jerseys the wrong way, they were fixed, and we were back underway. Soon everyone gathered at the start line. Most people would have needed a bullhorn to address a crowd this large, but not "Mr. Personality". It seems a few other newbies had installed their numbers incorrectly. A few extra minutes to remedy this, and someone yelled "Go!!"
More than 50 riders moved forward with the collective clicking of clipless pedals. Soon we were going 25 mph. The pack surged and slowed like a school of fish evading a predator. Accelerations from the corners left those of us in the middle to the back trying to play catch up. Greg stayed closer to the front. After 10 or so laps and 25 to 30 mph, I fell of the back. Once this happens, you are done. Aggressiveness is the key to stay in the pack. The Cat. 5 race was limited to 50 racers, but also had Cat.4, women, and juniors racing at the same time. This made for lots of riders on the track at the same time, but somehow I was out there all alone. After 15 miles the counter read "0".
When the laps to go counter reads "0", does this mean the race is over? Or does it mean you are on your last lap? What about when you get lapped 3 times? At this point the cool down lap and the last lap were one in the same. I headed back to my vehicle and my wife, thankfully both were close by. They only scored the top 20, so I'm not shure how many people finished behind me. I dare say not too many, but thats okay. This has lit the fire to train harder.
No comments:
Post a Comment