The race organizers decided to combined the expert and sport fields in the short track since there were only 3 expert racers...it was fun! Twenty five minutes + 3 laps...started out a good train thru the woods for the first few laps, things spread out over laps 3 and 5...I managed to slip away at the half way mark and built on that...ended up 1st with about :45 sec on seconds on 2nd place.
Most of the fellas camped out but Max ans I crashed out in a hotel...much warmer and comfortable. I was really cold the morning of the race and during the warm up...I was not in my routine like I should have...more on that in a bit...the start time was about 10a so by go time the temps had warmed up slightly, so I shed more jacket and headed to the start. On the line we had about 10 experts...all ages...we started off together and I went third into the woods. I felt the effort from Saturday immediately. Second place went down on the in the muddy section, so I slid into 2nd position...just before the single track started back up, the semi pro flew by me dragging along a new expert racer, so I jumped on the train and into the woods we went. I wanted to hang on and stay steady...well, these dudes put a solid pace down and i trailed them by about :20 seconds after lap 1. Lap two was a struggle to keep the power up, I stayed fluid but could tell I was running low on power, I guess I dropped about 3 minutes on that lap. It was the dreaded 3rd lap that got me good. The first little incline, the one I hammered up 12 times during the short track with easy, felt huge. I knew I had to just survive. I pushed but had no power...by the end of the lap, I was basically soft peddling. Ended up 4th overall and 1st in my age.
Some other Indian Cycling podiums...
Our BIG jr racer pulling down a 2nd place...
My boy Max...first race in a year and snags a 2nd place in 40+ sport
Clare finished 2nd in her first expert race.
And JoeJoe ended his sport career with a solid 3rd place...better enjoy, expert should be a eye opener laddy.
Now for the wrap up...
The weekend was a blast. The first race of the season is always one to be easy on yourself about...don't get to high or too low...it's long season.
For me...just a training weekend. I felt great on Saturday...not so much on Sunday. I would like to think I am in good enough shape to race two days in a row so I am not going to use that as on excuses as to why Sunday was so rough...but it is an easy scapegoat...I have some more training to do. Loner rides with tempo/intervals towards the end of the ride and shorter rider with all out effort...
I am going to keep training rides posted...coming soon!
