Bicycle Racing

So, a couple of months ago I did my first road race. I have been MTB racing for a couple of years and I am no superstar, but I have had my moments. I made an agreement with a couple of roadies that if they did my Brownie Crit, I would do this road race in Richmond. I figured it couldn't be that bad. I heard the course was pretty flat and fairly short with two 14-mile laps. I estimated about 1.5 hours of hard riding, not too bad.

Well...it was interesting. First thing I'll say is that in the end I am glad that I did it. It was a fun little road trip with Mark and Heather but it was really really hard. The course was dead flat. There was a little bit of relief but nothing to speak of. Not enough that anyone could get away. Unfortunately, that made it really really sketchy. We were in a pack of 50 for the entire first lap. There were also a couple of sharp turns but we had a rolling enclosure so that made them a little safer.

After the first lap (of two) I was starting to get a little pooped. The pace started off a LOT faster that Mark or I thought it would. I asked Mark on Saturday if he was bringing a trainer and he laughed. When he did the Commonwealth games he said the race was really slow until the end. But, this race was HOT from the beginning. It felt just like a MTB race, I was pegged for the first 5 miles or so. Then it sort of settled in and I rode next to Mark and said "It's a little hot huh?" He agreed.

Anyway, we are racing along on this fast flat course after one lap and I started to get a little pooped. I was hanging off the back of the bus contemplating how hard I wanted to work when I saw the worst crash I have ever seen in real life. It was like a friggin tour crash. It turns out someone cut off one of our racers and took him down. Then like six more guys must have gone down right away. There were bikes in the air, riders on the ground, blah blah blah. One guy actaully ended up with his wheel about ten feet away from his bike.

So, I slowed down, made sure that the CRC jersey that I saw wasn't Mark and made sure he was okay and then I decided that I couldn't (and didn't want to) get back on the pack so I just rode the rest of the loop with a couple of guys. About 5-10 mimutes after the first crash, we roll up on some carnage from the second crash. Mark saw it and said there were bikes everywhere. Everyone looked okay but there was one guy that was having trouble getting in the wheel truck. There were actually people in the truck from the first crash that got out because they weren't hurt as bad as people from the second crash.

Mark ended up finishing with the pack, he rode off of the front for a little while just to avoid the sketch. Then he came back into the pack and stayed away from the finish so he wouldn't get hurt.

In the end, we both came out without crashing so we were content. That day I decided two things.

1) I will ride my road bike recreationally and the MTB will be the competitive one.

2) I would be perfectly fine hanging the Lemond up until November.

That was back July sometime. It is now the last day in September and I have ridden my road bike once since that day. It wasn't a real ride, I rode to work. I should probably get back on my road bike, but it's just not as much fun as the MTB.

Now, 7 Springs! That was a good time! That'll be next.