A Mixed bag

Overall I had a good weekend. I was able to race on Saturday (thanks Kim for sub'ing!) and I rode another 55miles of riding Sunday. Now for the bad news... two flats. One during the race and one at the end of my ride Sunday.

The Race(Twin Bing RR) - I rode the A race which included category 1s, 2s & 3s. My race started at 10:00am. At 9:30am it was still chilly when I started getting into my race clothes. So, I put a skull cap for my head, leg warmers, and a vest. After a brief ride it seemed to be much warmer. Off with the vest for sure and I used Rich's knee warmers instead of my leg warmers. I removed the skull cap while at the start line.

The race started and I found myself immediately on the front end. Usually not the place to be but I just went my own pace. I was really nervous about the first hill which happened to be the finish line. I stayed up front. On the front you can set the pace up the hill. If you are going to slow the pack will come around but that usually takes a few precious moments to for them to realize. Nobody came around and I was still on the front. Surprising! I kept going on the front, still a comfortable pace. I had a gap... wow! Not for long though. Kevin Limpach came around me but he is crazy so I didn't chase.

After a couple miles some people in the pack decided it would be nice to get in an early break with Kevin. I remember seeing Bryan R., Devin, and maybe one other get up into a lead pack. With the peleton I gave chase too. A rookie mistake. I was on the front of the chase group reeling in one of my own teammates Devin. I got caught up in the action and wasn't thinking. It was gruppo compacto the rest of the first lap 22.2miles.

I was happy to survive the first lap. None of the hills seem to trouble me. I was able to get a good effort chasing a break away. All is good, so far! That was only the first lap of 3 which is usually tame.

Lap 2 - The first hill of the course was staring at me again. After seeing the rest of the course this hill was easily the most difficult. I was ready to dig deep into my "suitcase of pain" to stay with the pack over this hill. Then I heard a pop like a firecracker. It was me, I had a flat. Another mistake, no wheel in the wheel truck. I brought them but was too lazy to mark them and put them into the truck. Luckily, it was only 1/2 mile back to my truck.

Now my race turned into a training ride. I replace the flatted wheel. Made a bathroom stop and was on my way. When I made it to the top of the first hill I looked back to see if the B race was close and they were. Just riding through town. New Goal... stay ahead of the B race. I worked hard. Hammering up the hills and keeping a high speed on the flats. I was able to hold them off for a long time but they caught me about 15miles into the second lap. I let them pass and put a good gap behind them. Then I started to work again. They must have slowed down because I caught them. They were going slow. I decided to pass them. It was almost the end of the race and the official didn't want me to get in the way of the finish. So he asked me to hang off the back of the pack. That was ok with me. It was a headwind section. He allowed me to draft off the group. There was only about 16 of 76 left in this group. In the final stretch I let the group and official's car get about 1/2 mile in front of me and watched them finish up the hill.

Lap 3 - One more lap to go. This lap I just maintain a good tempo pace. HR about 160+. Speed was good and still had good energy. I was in the drops a lot and my lower back was squawking at me. Overall I was happy with my performance.

Some race stats - Speed 19.7mph, KCals 3499, time 3:30hrs, distance 68miles, 20th of 26

Sunday - Met some guys with Velo Veloce for a LSD ride. They went out for a couple hours and I continued on for another 1:30hr until I flatted again. Mistake 3... no repair kit. Called Christine for a rescue. Still was able to ride 51 miles.