Quick race reports: I did not make the last road race (Aaron Shafer Memorial RR) but did make a couple of circuit races and a criterium the last few weeks. The circuit races were at Barber Motorsports Park outside of Birmingham on April 23 and the criterium was near Nashville last weekend.
Barber Motorsports races:
At the last minute my middle daughter (senior in high school) decided to drive to Birmingham, about 3hrs from Nashville, to see her boyfriend (freshman in college) run his last track meet of the season. It turned out there was a circuit race at an auto race track (Barber Motorsports) not far from the track meet, so I decided (the night before) to roadtrip with her. I did not think I would be able to make the first race (Cat 5) but we arrived about 20 minutes before the start and I (a) got registered, (b) changed into racing kit, (c) pumped tires, (d) rushed to line just in time for the start of the 45 minute race--not a great way to start a race. The course was windy (long i) and windy (short i) with short hills. It took me a little while to learn to stay wide on several of the turns since there was a lot of yo-yoing when we would go through a turn and then hit an uphill. I settled down and was feeling good when, toward the end of the race, I found myself at the front of the pack chasing two other riders who were off. My margin of error is really slim at my current fitness level and it was disappointing that I cannot seem to help myself when I get into a race. I was not fully recovered when on the last lap a rider just in front of me crashed on a tight downhill turn. I was able to avoid him, but did not have the strength to hang onto the front group and limped in with a second group and was 15th out of 28. The second race I entered was Cat 4/5 30+ with 32 racers. During the first race, I noticed that the front derailleur was rubbing a bit when in the big chain ring. It turned out that I had installed the der. cable on the wrong side of the bolt a few weeks earlier and took this opportunity to start slipping. On the first lap it slipped so much that it shifted to the small chain ring and stayed there, so I had to ride most of the race at relatively high cadence. No one got away in this race. There was a final sprint and I was satisfied with again placing 15 considering the mechanical troubles.
Brentwood Criterium
Last weekend I did a 30 minute (Cat 5) local criterium in Bretnwood (a suburb of Nashvill). This time I stayed out of the wind and had no mechanical problems placing 10th out of 34. I should have started my push earlier on the last lap since I definitely felt like I had something left at the end. I was the only 50+ rider in the group.