After 5 weeks of riding, I decided to do my first race. For any other newbs like myself, I usually trained at average speeds of 17-18 mph with an avg HR of 150. I did the Junior race in the morning, which left me devastated because some of the other 15-18 riders are cat 1 and 2 racers! The cat 5 race went much better, which is the race below. The thing that killed me the most was this short fast hill. Other than that, it was pretty low-effort. Perhaps that's because everybody else wanted to recover from the hill too 🙂 It was 100' of climbing per lap.
The race
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Distance: 24 miles (20 laps)
Field: ~40
Category: 4 and 5
Avg. Speed: 23 mph
Max Speed: 38 mph
Results: Bad luck. Three times.
I make sure to get to the line early, and get into the second row. Sheesh perhaps this was a mistake! I have NEVER ridden in a pack this big before, only small groups. And we are never this close. Well we start, and I'm doing ok. I get clipped in right away, and start cruising down the hill in the pack. Slowly people are passing me, as I am being moved to the back of everyone. We get about half way and I start wondering when that hill is coming up. Whoa! We already went over it! This is how much being in a pack does for you! I'm starting to feel very confident in my pack-riding abilities. I am doing alright! I've got guys on both sides and I feel good. The first lap I could already tell how much easier it was than the junior race. Everything is going good, I'm cornering alright in the middle, etc. No crashes. Then I feel something like a rock hit my glasses. This must be about 6 laps in. Awwww ****. One of my lenses popped out! Without them I have 20/400 vision. Oh well, I've still got one lense so my eyes are compensating. Ok, I am still determined to finish this race. The next few laps are going good. Until we are going downhill at 38 mph and a corner is coming up, and I am stuck on the outside of the pack. ****. I come into the corner, and can tell I'm going to be wide. Noooooooo! In slow motion, I turn wide, right down into a grassy ditch. Lucky for me it rained last night so I am in a puddle of water and mud. (Please don't crash, please don't crash). Still pedalling, I am determined to get out of this. I look at the side of the road, and there is about a 3 inch dropoff from the road to here. Nuts. I keep going through this ditch for about 5 seconds. Woo the droppoff is only about 1.5 inches here. I do my best and ride out of this back onto the road. Now I see the pack in the distance starting to head up the hill. ****. Time to sprint. I shift up, stand up, and start cranking. My legs are reeealllly burning now. I catch them at the top of the hill and I am immersed back into the pack! A few guys say "whoa you're back!" Ok now we have like 5 laps to go, but I did not know this. I lost track. Two laps later, we are about to go up the hill. I downshift, and hear a weird noise. My crank locks up, and I can't pedal. Looking down, I see that the chain has dropped off the small ring. I can't pedal, and I watch as the pack goes on without me. Knowing I have to get off, I put the chain back on. I am talking to a corner marshall and ask about the free lap rule. I thought we were like at 10 laps so I'm excited. I find out that there are 3 laps to go, and a chain problem does not qualify you for a free lap anyways. Well I keep riding, after being lapped from waiting for this guy to radio to the start area. Now there are two laps left. I find a few stragglers and suck their wheels for another lap before finishing. So in all, a lost glasses lens, off roading in my road bike, and a chain fell off. I was nowhere near being dropped by the pack due to my fitness though, so I am glad about that! I was even near the front at times. Next time I will finish good.