I got back into town Tuesday night and figured I might as well ride in this final series race, which I had already paid for. I hadn’t seen a hill in three weeks (NC is pancake flat, and while I was able to ride once I got a bike [missed a week], the climbing muscles got absolutely zero work) so my inability to win was only exacerbated. What to do? Alternate plan.
The first lap of the race comes with the award of beer. Assuming nobody else was hell-bent on getting it, I figured I could go kamikaze, win that beer, and not care about the rest of the race. I didn’t know if it’d work, but it was the plan.
Showed up at the race, said hey to my friend, shared with him my plan, lined up, and we were off. One of the youngsters (the juniors race with us) decided to bomb up the initial hill and then die (figuratively) at the first corner (an uphill hairpin) so that caused a bit of a of a bottleneck that served to spread out the field unlike ever before. Two guys got away and three of us chased. I had planned on taking the lead from the start, but it wasn’t in the cards. Hrm. Plan already foiled? At the base of the final climb, we caught the lead two and I was on the back of the group. I dropped a gear and put the power down to surprise anyone else that may have been interested in the prime and create a gap. Luckily, nobody went with me, and halfway up the hill a glance behind told me I had it. I was pretty gassed, but continued to give the hill everything I had (not much) and crossed the line first. I was so far ahead of the other guys that I slowed up at the line and pointed at my number to make sure they knew which race I was in (a number of races run simultaneously).
From there, I didn’t care how it all went. I let off and allowed my heart rate drop back from max. Already tasting blood (happens when you overwork your lungs)… Ick. Recovery took an entire lap and I likely ended up near the end of the field. I kept with a couple of guys back there as my lap times only got faster following that second one. A waste of a race, but hey, I won more than ever so was it really a waste? Maybe winning the first lap/primes could become my MO? Regardless, had my best result yet with 14th, but a few fast guys were moved up and relatively few people raced so the result must be discounted a good amount.
Added bonus to this day was that my friend won the overall. He’d been getting ~5th every week, but this week was his. Very happy for him.
With that, the race series is over. I really wish it could go on all summer; I need more racing. A look at the race calendar now that I’m back in town tells me that the season is nearly over. Bummer! Cross is upon us, but I still feel like I need base miles. This year’s training has been a mess… Maybe next year will be the year I shine? Hoping for no quality excuses. Yeah, next year will be my year. I want more than beer. I’ll get more than beer.
Up next is riding from Seattle to Portland on Saturday (doing the one-day) and then the beginning of the trail racing series. I’m in horrid running shape as evidenced by the monthly trail runs I do that leave me nearly unable to walk the next day. Naturally, I should just go ahead and race those runs, right? Never boring!
