enamore22
10-09-06, 12:00 PM
This morning, I rode in my first race - The Jamestown Classic. The whole thing was amazing. Fun beyond my wildest expectations and incredibly rewarding to know that I did as well as I did.
The weather was perfect. A sunny 63 degrees with a very light wind. We couldn't have asked for anything better.
I was registered for the citizen's race (aka, novices) in the Male 20-34 category. It was one loop around the island of Jamestown, RI - 19 miles total. All 180 or so novice riders from the various age/gender categories raced together... and started together. It was insane.
Lesson #1: Pee early. Standing in a bathroom line for 20 minutes right before the start while you wait for cyclist after cyclist to take a dump is not fun. It also gets you a place WAY at the back of the starting pack. Boo. I probably started behind 140 other riders.
9:30 AM... and we're off. I spent the first minute or so waiting to even move off the line and finally started manueving my way around riders who couldn't seem to get clipped in. Argh.
After that ordeal, I caught a train for a couple miles while I settled into a rhythm. I was immediately surprised by the speed of it all. We were cruising along at 25-30 like it was nothing. Sweet.
Once I calmed down and got refocused, I started hopping from one group to the next, making my way past each set of folks. There wasn't much organization among the riders, but I seemed to keep finding the perfect gaps to keep moving up through. At this point, I started to wonder if I was pushing too hard too early. But when I looked down and realized we were already 4 miles into a 19 miles race, I disregarded that thought.
The course was made up of mostly rolling hills, with a couple of harder-than-the-rest climbs towards the end. I went for a 'test' ride a few weeks ago to check things out, so I had a pretty good idea of what to expect and when.
Around mile 6, the pavement went from smooth to 'f-in ouch' bumpy. But because I had previously scouted it out, I knew what to expect. All the riders around me immediately slowed down. I kept pressing on and started passing one after another. A nice uphill at the end of this section made it all the more sweet. I probably made up 40 places in the span of two miles.
Things were pretty uneventful till around mile 11, where the longest and steadiest climb of the day started. My legs were starting to burn a little, but I was still able to hop behind a couple stronger riders and hang on while we blew by another 20 or so. Booyah.
At this point, I realized I had absolutely no concept of how many riders were left in front of me. I couldn't see anyone beyond the guy I was drafting, so I started thinking "Wow... I might actually be at the front!" And seconds later, 15 riders came flying by in the opposite direction. They had already reached the turnaround. lol. But even still, I knew I wasn't far behind them.
We whipped around the tight turnaround at 28 miles an hour and I think I leaned further than ever before. Scary and awesome at the same time. Oh, and about this time I flashed a quick smile at the sport photography folks. :)
I stayed pretty steady from here on out until the very last hill - a 5.5% grade for almost a mile. I got about halfway up and let out a few choice cursewords as my legs decided to stop working. I probably gave back 10 spots here... but that was ok. Once I got over the top, I turned it back on and crossed the finish line doing 30 to many claps and cheers. What a feeling!
The results aren't up yet, but if my computers are right, I finished in under 54 minutes with an average speed of 21.6. My most optimistic goal was 55 minutes... so I'm really, REALLY happy with 54!
In the overall standings, I'm guessing I got 30 or so (out of 180). In my age/gender category, I'm hoping for 6 or 7.
Observations:
I was able to stay in the draft for 98% of the race. Having so many riders strung out across the course made it a bit easier to keep moving up without doing much work.
Starting at the back of the pack was probably my most costly mistake. I'm guessing I could've stuck with the leaders if I didn't have to fight my way through all the slower folks at the start. They took off fast and when I couldn't even move for the first 60 seconds.
Two water bottles is WAY too much for a 19 mile race. I was surprised by how little time I had to even drink one.
All said and done, I couldn't be more happy with the way things turned out. This is just the motivation I need to train through the winter and get ready to try my legs as a cat 5 next Spring.
The weather was perfect. A sunny 63 degrees with a very light wind. We couldn't have asked for anything better.
I was registered for the citizen's race (aka, novices) in the Male 20-34 category. It was one loop around the island of Jamestown, RI - 19 miles total. All 180 or so novice riders from the various age/gender categories raced together... and started together. It was insane.
Lesson #1: Pee early. Standing in a bathroom line for 20 minutes right before the start while you wait for cyclist after cyclist to take a dump is not fun. It also gets you a place WAY at the back of the starting pack. Boo. I probably started behind 140 other riders.
9:30 AM... and we're off. I spent the first minute or so waiting to even move off the line and finally started manueving my way around riders who couldn't seem to get clipped in. Argh.
After that ordeal, I caught a train for a couple miles while I settled into a rhythm. I was immediately surprised by the speed of it all. We were cruising along at 25-30 like it was nothing. Sweet.
Once I calmed down and got refocused, I started hopping from one group to the next, making my way past each set of folks. There wasn't much organization among the riders, but I seemed to keep finding the perfect gaps to keep moving up through. At this point, I started to wonder if I was pushing too hard too early. But when I looked down and realized we were already 4 miles into a 19 miles race, I disregarded that thought.
The course was made up of mostly rolling hills, with a couple of harder-than-the-rest climbs towards the end. I went for a 'test' ride a few weeks ago to check things out, so I had a pretty good idea of what to expect and when.
Around mile 6, the pavement went from smooth to 'f-in ouch' bumpy. But because I had previously scouted it out, I knew what to expect. All the riders around me immediately slowed down. I kept pressing on and started passing one after another. A nice uphill at the end of this section made it all the more sweet. I probably made up 40 places in the span of two miles.
Things were pretty uneventful till around mile 11, where the longest and steadiest climb of the day started. My legs were starting to burn a little, but I was still able to hop behind a couple stronger riders and hang on while we blew by another 20 or so. Booyah.
At this point, I realized I had absolutely no concept of how many riders were left in front of me. I couldn't see anyone beyond the guy I was drafting, so I started thinking "Wow... I might actually be at the front!" And seconds later, 15 riders came flying by in the opposite direction. They had already reached the turnaround. lol. But even still, I knew I wasn't far behind them.
We whipped around the tight turnaround at 28 miles an hour and I think I leaned further than ever before. Scary and awesome at the same time. Oh, and about this time I flashed a quick smile at the sport photography folks. :)
I stayed pretty steady from here on out until the very last hill - a 5.5% grade for almost a mile. I got about halfway up and let out a few choice cursewords as my legs decided to stop working. I probably gave back 10 spots here... but that was ok. Once I got over the top, I turned it back on and crossed the finish line doing 30 to many claps and cheers. What a feeling!
The results aren't up yet, but if my computers are right, I finished in under 54 minutes with an average speed of 21.6. My most optimistic goal was 55 minutes... so I'm really, REALLY happy with 54!
In the overall standings, I'm guessing I got 30 or so (out of 180). In my age/gender category, I'm hoping for 6 or 7.
Observations:
I was able to stay in the draft for 98% of the race. Having so many riders strung out across the course made it a bit easier to keep moving up without doing much work.
Starting at the back of the pack was probably my most costly mistake. I'm guessing I could've stuck with the leaders if I didn't have to fight my way through all the slower folks at the start. They took off fast and when I couldn't even move for the first 60 seconds.
Two water bottles is WAY too much for a 19 mile race. I was surprised by how little time I had to even drink one.
All said and done, I couldn't be more happy with the way things turned out. This is just the motivation I need to train through the winter and get ready to try my legs as a cat 5 next Spring.