Tuesday, May 03, 2011

My First Race at 5,000 ft...

Tuesday afternoon, 6:20pm, 65 degrees and sunny.  I roll over to the start line and get ready to tackle 4 laps of the short track course with 50 other riders...yes 50...and this is only the sport category.

Somehow I managed to put myself near the front of the pack for the start.  Here I am, coming off of some epic cold...with my only serious efforts being sprints on the polo court and I am in the first row of riders.  I already felt a little overwhelmed because I thought we would only be putting in 3 laps...but I had just heard the announcement of 4 laps.  I look over my shoulder to see if I can sneak my way back a little bit, but no dice.  My bed was already made, I just had to suck it up.  

I knew being near the front would pay dividends for the upcoming "pump track" section early in the course but I really didn't want to have to mix it up 9 wide going into the first corner.  Thankfully, the start was pretty tame, no wrecks that I could see but someone did bobble the first serious rise about 5-6 riders in and everyone else was pretty much doomed to do a quick hike up that section.  It actually worked out pretty well for forcing people into some single file action since there was some super-tight single track up ahead.  

The rest of the race was pretty standard stuff.  Tight twisty sections, short climbs, several open spots for passing.  The course was very dry which led to some sketchy corners and a LOT of dust.  The 15-minute bike ride home included much hacking, coughing and sneezing.  

One minor achievement...I didn't get beat by the guy on the Langster...(yeah, the track bike).  It was pretty close though.  He bobbled one of the last corners pretty bad and almost racked himself.  It looked like he was going to jump right back on without losing any ground...but it became clear that he was going to need a moment to compose himself.  It took that opportunity to pass him on the inside.  I mean, it wasn't a full on track bike, he did have some riser bars on it!  He rode the fuck out of that thing though...basically his two primary weapons were 1) locking up the rear wheel and 2) an excellent inside dab.  

If I can stop blowing dust out of my nose by next Tuesday...maybe I'll do it again.  Right now...I am just going to find some food and maybe do some arts and crafts.  But first I need a damn shower!

Here's a short video of the Beginner Men start.  50 Racers there too!

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