First race back...

Well, I guess I am officially back in action!  And I could not possibly be more excited about it!!!

This weekend I signed up for the Masters 30/40 race at the Aaron Schafer Memorial event in Sparta, TN.  UHHH, ouch??  Yep, it was brutal, but the racing was top notch and it was great to see so many friends doing what they love.  I certainly wasn’t expecting any sort of victory, but I am happy to report that I finished FAR AHEAD of the field when it comes to the SUN BURN category, hahah =)  Saturday was really the first time since the weather got warm that I was able to get out and enjoy a day on the bike, and my new cycling kit burn confirms that.  Prior to the race, I was most certainly the pastiest guy in the Southeast for sure, hahaha =)  So I killed 2 birds this weekend… 1) first road race of the year, and 2) first sunburn of the year also…

The race – I was really pretty much definitely expecting to probably get dropped before this race reached the finish line, but I had decided that I would ride until I blew a gasket and see where that landed me.  I think we started with a few more than 30 riders, and 28 recorded a result at the finish line.  I knew it was going to be a highly tactical race, because the guys in attendance are FAST, SMART, and SEASONED racers…and they had team mates and tactics.  MOAB Masters had 9 in attendance, SVMIC had 7, and 3 other teams had 3 riders each…and then there was moi. 

Right from the gun, this race fired up.  I hit my peak 5 second, 10 second, and 30 second power before we had even raced half a mile.  OUCH!  OH, my peak HR for the race also occurred within the first kilometer, too!  Hahaha!  That is not really the way I was hoping that my first race of the season (after being off the bike for 2 months following a car vs. bike accident) would roll off of the start line.  I repeat…OUCH!

As the race progressed, the attacks continued to fly, and fly, and fly, and fly.  I was patient and let the teams who were not represented in the attacks bring them back, but every now and then a group would get up the road with the right mix of guys, and I was forced to chase it down.  Actually, I managed to sneak into a few breaks that DID have the right mix, but apparently the guys behind us didn’t like the fact that I had made the selection, and perhaps they thought that it was not in their best interest to let us stay away…So the teams brought back their own riders in any move that I got in, no matter how many of their teammates were up the road.  I’ll take that as a compliment =)

So, this race has ONE defining climb about 1/3 the way through, and historically the race would blow apart on that stretch of road, and the leaders would never be seen again.  So I battled for position leading up to the climb and figured that being in the front 8-10 riders was about where I needed to be.  I didn’t want to SET the pace up the climb, but I also didn’t want to get caught behind someone who might fall off the pace and get dropped.  I managed to zig-zag my way through the riders as we approached the summit of the punchy little hill (probably 200ish meters long, and pretty steep)and crested the top in 4th position, and 9 of us had a nice gap over the chasing group.  The climb had indeed shredded the field, and I was really liking the make-up of the group we had up the road.  2 MOAB, 2 SVMIC, 3 Chainheart, a Swiftwick, and myself.  We hammered down the mountain and worked for about half a mile before I noticed the MOAB and SVMIC guys sitting up and taking note of the situation.  They didn’t like the make-up of the group one bit and explained that they were going to wait for their chasing team mates.  So our group was soon joined by the pursuing group of about 9 or 10 more.  So we were now back to a fairly big group of riders, and the attacks resumed…one after the other, after the other, after the other…

I was really beginning to suffer, and the rollers and the wind were taking their toll on me as much as the pace being set by the teams trying to get the right break up the road…I was really beginning to wonder if I would be able to hang on till the finish line…

I was alert the whole race, and am really psyched that I chased when I needed to, and conserved when I didn’t.  I’d like to think that I couldn’t have raced any smarter.  Well, until the last 800m anyway!  Haha =)

I had already decided who I was going to mark for the finishing sprint, and with 2 miles to go, I had positioned myself in the front of the bunch (top 5 riders or so), and refused to give up that position for the remainder of the run-in even though everyone was fighting for the wheels they wanted.  The finish has a punchy little climb with about 600m to go, then a couple of rollers within the last 400m.  You either want to be way ahead with 400m to go, or you want to wait until the crest of the last roller within the last 100m to open up your sprint.  I had it all planned out.  I was hoping that the guys I was following were going to HAMMER the little climb and have a gap over everyone else.  Then I would hang onto them until opening my sprint…

Well, they hammered the climb, and I felt great and was 4th wheel as we crested the hill and saw the finishing straight unfold in front of us.  We even had that gap I was hoping for.  Certainly big enough to hold off the chasing group…well…IF the guys in front of me had as much left in the tank as I did…

But they didn’t, and all three of them swung off to the sides and I found myself all alone, with the wind in my face, and 400 terrible meters of pavement to pound before the finish line.  I buried my head and gave that last section of road all I had.  Both of my legs were already starting to lock up with 100m to go, and I didn’t have the option to get out of the saddle for that last little burst of speed.  With 20 meters to go, I was caught by the swarming bunch that came by me on both sides at the line.  Bummer.

I wound up 3rd in my category (30+) but 9th overall.  I wish the finale had played out differently, because I think I could have placed top 3 had I not been hung out to dry with 400m to go.  Overall, I am really pleased that I raced as strong as I did without any saddle time lately.  I think I will be back to my old self very quickly =)

My power file from the race shows that it was one of the harder rides I have ever done.  Ever.  And I did it with zero fitness, off the couch.  So I think there is certainly some room for big gains in the very near future.  Now that I have a race under my belt, and a rockin’ cycling kit tan (err, burn), I am itching to get back out there…

oh yea...injury update...wrist seems to be continuing to heal, but my ankle still needs some work (another checkup in 6 weeks, and PT in the meantime).