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04-10-06, 07:54 AM
Hi All this is my first post ... well maybe second. I had my first race this past weeked, Tour de Fleur in Jackson Mississippi!
First, I'd like to say thanks to the race organizers they did a great job and I, along with my teammates, had a great time.
A little about myself. I bought my first road bike last September. Then in January bought a Roubaix for my 50th birthday! I also raced cat 5. Now on to the race ....
The crit was on Saturday. Now I don't know how most crits are laid out but this one seemed to a first timer as crazy/insane! It went thru a very upscale neighborhood, with lots of curves (one turn was nearly 180 degrees), lots of downhills and uphills and very bumpy. There was one uphill to the finish line that was .3 miles long and, someone told me, was a 3% climb (seemed a lot harder to me). Each lap was 1.3 miles long.
I was so worried about the start and being able to clip in that I lined up near the back. But it went ok for me and we were off. It was intense but I hung with the pack till .... the first big hill. Yep, I got dropped on the first lap! Then on the second lap I came around the 180 degree turn and someone had crashed. He looked pretty bad lying there and bleeding so I stopped to make sure that he wasn't ... well dying. He said he was ok, so I took off again (stopped for maybe 45 seconds). The rest of the race for me was uneventful, I was by myself after all. I finally got the 3 laps to go sign signal and shortly after that the front pack lapped me! I made sure I was out of their way and tried to get on the back but couldn't. Then when I got to the start/finish I was really worried that I was going to get pulled but the race organizers let me finish. All said and done, I finished 22 out of 25 finishers (yes I did manage to pass 3 people) and 32 starters.
Oh, props to my teammate Todd, it was his first crit as well and he hung on to the lead pack and managed to finish 12th! Also my other teammate Peter finished 16th.
On Sunday was the road race. It seemed pretty short to me, 20 miles. There were 42 cat 5s at the start. We lined up fairly close to the front, which we later discovered was quite the mistake, should have gotten on the front. Any way we started. The road race to me was very intense. There were several large teams and they had the front of the pack all bottled up blocking. You couldn't pass and the pace wasn't very fast. There was a lot of jostling and slowing and speeding up. It was all I could do just to keep from crashing. It went like this nearly the whole race, until, a few miles (maybe 2 or 3) from the finish, two guys bumped near the front. No one crashed but people were weaving all over the place or jamming on their brakes, very intense. I still find it hard to believe that no one went down. Anyway, I got lucky and a hole opened up in front of me. I jumped on it and manage to pass a number of the guys that were doing the blocking. Still not all of them though. The pack formed back up and we continued on.
BTW, the yellow line rule was strictly enforced anyone caught trying to pass by crossing the line was warned and could have been pulled. About 200 yards from the finish the race organizers opened up the entire road. Oh and the last mile or so was a slight downhill grade. Anyway ... back to the race....
We were coming to the end, maybe 300 yards to go ... and the sprint happened. Fortunately, I had been working my way to the left side of the pack and hole hole opened up as two guys took off. I jumped on it and sprinted all the way to the finished. I passed a number of people and was actually closing in on third but I ran out of gear, Damm! Two guys passed me within 20 yards of the finish and I hung on for a 6th place! Damm!
All in all it was a great day!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh and props to my teammate Todd who was one of the guys who passed me near the finish line. He finished 3rd!
First, I'd like to say thanks to the race organizers they did a great job and I, along with my teammates, had a great time.
A little about myself. I bought my first road bike last September. Then in January bought a Roubaix for my 50th birthday! I also raced cat 5. Now on to the race ....
The crit was on Saturday. Now I don't know how most crits are laid out but this one seemed to a first timer as crazy/insane! It went thru a very upscale neighborhood, with lots of curves (one turn was nearly 180 degrees), lots of downhills and uphills and very bumpy. There was one uphill to the finish line that was .3 miles long and, someone told me, was a 3% climb (seemed a lot harder to me). Each lap was 1.3 miles long.
I was so worried about the start and being able to clip in that I lined up near the back. But it went ok for me and we were off. It was intense but I hung with the pack till .... the first big hill. Yep, I got dropped on the first lap! Then on the second lap I came around the 180 degree turn and someone had crashed. He looked pretty bad lying there and bleeding so I stopped to make sure that he wasn't ... well dying. He said he was ok, so I took off again (stopped for maybe 45 seconds). The rest of the race for me was uneventful, I was by myself after all. I finally got the 3 laps to go sign signal and shortly after that the front pack lapped me! I made sure I was out of their way and tried to get on the back but couldn't. Then when I got to the start/finish I was really worried that I was going to get pulled but the race organizers let me finish. All said and done, I finished 22 out of 25 finishers (yes I did manage to pass 3 people) and 32 starters.
Oh, props to my teammate Todd, it was his first crit as well and he hung on to the lead pack and managed to finish 12th! Also my other teammate Peter finished 16th.
On Sunday was the road race. It seemed pretty short to me, 20 miles. There were 42 cat 5s at the start. We lined up fairly close to the front, which we later discovered was quite the mistake, should have gotten on the front. Any way we started. The road race to me was very intense. There were several large teams and they had the front of the pack all bottled up blocking. You couldn't pass and the pace wasn't very fast. There was a lot of jostling and slowing and speeding up. It was all I could do just to keep from crashing. It went like this nearly the whole race, until, a few miles (maybe 2 or 3) from the finish, two guys bumped near the front. No one crashed but people were weaving all over the place or jamming on their brakes, very intense. I still find it hard to believe that no one went down. Anyway, I got lucky and a hole opened up in front of me. I jumped on it and manage to pass a number of the guys that were doing the blocking. Still not all of them though. The pack formed back up and we continued on.
BTW, the yellow line rule was strictly enforced anyone caught trying to pass by crossing the line was warned and could have been pulled. About 200 yards from the finish the race organizers opened up the entire road. Oh and the last mile or so was a slight downhill grade. Anyway ... back to the race....
We were coming to the end, maybe 300 yards to go ... and the sprint happened. Fortunately, I had been working my way to the left side of the pack and hole hole opened up as two guys took off. I jumped on it and sprinted all the way to the finished. I passed a number of people and was actually closing in on third but I ran out of gear, Damm! Two guys passed me within 20 yards of the finish and I hung on for a 6th place! Damm!
All in all it was a great day!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh and props to my teammate Todd who was one of the guys who passed me near the finish line. He finished 3rd!