State Line Road Race

Cat 4.

Did the state line road race this morning.  It rained almost the entire time, I didn't really mind.

Our race was 50 miles. 6 laps of a circuit with a moderate hill at the finish.  I'm thinking the rain slowed our pace because it never seemed that hard. Also I think I'm getting stronger.

My race went like this...

Showed up late and rolled to the start line with just enough time to pee behind a bush.  Rain was hardest for the first half of the race and my visibility was severely limited for a few sketchy minutes. Not much interesting stuff to tell for most of the race. We did pass and get passed by the masters three times.  That was kind of fun although this opinion was certainly the minority. Apparently at one point I was blocking the solo masters leader. I heard all these people yelling but didn't know it was directed at me. Sorry. I feel bad about that and don't think that was fun at all.

The final time we passed the masters they gave us an earful to stay in front of them for good and I agreed. We had 1/2 lap to go so I did some pulling for the first time. After tucking back in I started thinking about how to win. The final climb was almost immediately proceeded by a short but steep downhill followed by a short "s" sweeper type turn. I thought about attacking right before the downhill but was boxed in. Luckily space opened up and I at least was able to move up inside the top 10 approaching the climb. I made it around the tough turn at the bottom and followed wheels up the hill and towards the line.

I was right in the mix during the sprint but could only manage 6th. I had the legs but there just isn't a lot of space to work with in a road race.

Still, that's one of my best finishes ever and those last 1000 meters were some of the most fun i've had no my bicycle.

This was probably the first time on my road bike where I had a real chance to win the race.

Fun!