First (official) race of the year... Perry Dam Race

I'm so glad it's back.

I drove up to Perry Lake yesterday to partake in the last Dam Race of the year. Cat 4. 35 miles.

The entire weekend up to that point had been perfect, weather, birthday, ku win, more weather... so i wanted to keep it that way. A good reslut was not in the cards considering i got a late start to riding seriously this year plus this was only my first race of the year, but i wanted to stay with the pack. That would make me happy.

I paid my $25, went thru the pre race routine and rolled up to the startline. i spotted a few other dudes with hary legs and felt a little better about my chances for a pack finish.

They blow the whistle and off we go.

The start felt fast. I was hurting almost immediately. the wind was coming hard from the South so positioning was key. Especially for me as i soon realized i would be suffering the whole race just trying to hang on. It took me two laps to settle in but after that i made sure i was in the right place all the time. If not i'm quite sure the wind would have slapped me around like a little bit*h and left me limping home.

The only place i felt good was the climb. With the exception of maybe 5 guys i think i was just as fast as anybody else up that hill. I'll take that but i'm not overly excited about it. It's simply the benefit of being 140 lbs. Me bragging about being a good climber would be like someone bragging about being tall. Besides, i'm fully aware i have no power. i have trouble keeping up when were going down hill since im so light. i need to work on that.

So the laps tick by, a few moves go but im really not interested in any of that. Of course im thinking about being a good teameate but besides that im just here to survive. The team was riding great and when Kenny got away at the top of the climb we sat up and let someone else pull thru. I think he got caught but then took off again and finished solo for 3rd. Pretty impressive for a 16 year old. Plus... he's probably lighter than i am! dude's got game.

So we get to the last lap and halfway thru i almost crack, i actually gave up for 2 seconds when were single file and i couldnt hold the wheel in front of me, then i noticed they slowed and i caught back on easily. but the writing was on the wall. cramps were starting to set in and i was tired. we hit the bottom of the hill and i got out of the saddle for a few seconds, then decided i was done and sat up. So it wasent a pack finish, but pretty close, im fine with it. Considering i've done very little riding so far this year and very little of it has been pedaling hard im happy with the result.

This could / should / will be / who knows/ might be the break out season i wanted last year on the road.

I really want to get to Cat 3 this year. If for no other reason than to prepare myself a little better for racing open cross races this year.

I got a long way to go.

I cant wait to ride my bike a lot.

Pow!