Me? a Roadie?

I've finally done it. I got to add a knotch into my dirty MTB belt today by competing in my first road race. I've been racing MTB since 1997 and am a mountain biker at heart. I've been hounded for over a year now by a friend/team manager/"roadie pusher" to do a road race, and today was the day of christening. I chose the Bariani Road Race near Zamora and it's a 10 mile course in the foothills north of Woodland. It's a great course, fast, scenic with a couple little short hills. I raced the Cat 5 Elite men's group and we had about 50 riders in our wave. We did 3 laps.

Lap 1. We started just after 2pm and headed out. The pace was mild, averaging about 21mph (or should I put that in Km?) :-). I stayed in the main pack, pretty comfortable throughout the whole first lap, and it seemed pretty easy.

Lap 2. The pace picked up as well as the wind, followed by slight sprinkles and a little hail. The wind blew the main group all over and we spread out to avoid each other. About 1/2 way around #2, the course turned south and the group gathered back up in front, leaving a few stragglers to try and catch on. That's when we got the hail. Once a bunch of us fell off the back, it was hard to regain the speed needed to catch up to the main field. We fought it for a bit, but the KOM towards the end slowed me and a few others down.

Lap 3. I chased and then caught up to one of the stragglers and passed him, giving him my wheel for a few miles, then got a blast of energy and started hammering my top gear out of the saddle for the last 3 miles. I passed 3 other riders and one latched on for the finish. I turned the final corner and knew that this guy was going to sit my wheel long enough to regain some energy and try to pass, so I unleashed what I could and pulled the whole way through the finish. He didn't try anything, and it felt good.

All in all, I had fun. I do like MTB and CX much better, but I'd do another road race. The feeling of sprinting down a country road at 30+ mph attempting to catch a few riders has it's own little bit of serenity that I can find value in. Maybe someday I can lead a breakaway to a win...

papa cat.