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09-14-03, 12:38 PM
well, I just got back from my first race, and I figured I had better write down what I remember now rather than later, when the details become fuzzy.
For the most part I would have to say this was one of my worst efforts in the past 6 months. Perhaps it was lack of training or experience but I would have liked to do better than this... anyhow here we go.
I raced in the North Las Vegas Crit, (which I believe is the first ever) in the Cat 4/5 event. There was roughly 20 people in this race and it started promptly at 8:05 am. Today was a really good day to race, the weather is nice (90 degrees little wind and low humidity) The course was rather interesting, it was a 1.9 mile loop (which made about a 4-5 min lap) around an industrial/business park, and I would have to say my only complaint is that we had to cross over rail road tracks twice in one loop. (once during a turn, the other on a straight)
The race got off to a good start, and once we started rolling we had to ride about 75-100 meters to the first right hand turn. I clipped in and got behind a rider I reconized (rode with him in a club ride last spring) and figured I'd just see where things go from there. After the first right hand turn the course goes slightly uphill, enough to slow down the speed a few miles but not really anything too serious. At the top of the hill we had to turn left (over the railroad tracks) and ride a short straight and turn right (turn 3). We then headed about 400 meters to our next right (turn 4) hand turn and the longest straight on the course, it was probably the fastes part of the race. Another right turn (turn 5), and a straight that sweeps into a curve bringing us back to the start finish line...
Unfortunately, after the first three turns I got pushed to the outside a bit and was in the back of the peloton. I guess I was a bit tired or nervous about the corners but on the next turn I really had to turn it up to catch back on to the end. (I was yo-yo ing :() it seemed like the first lap was so fast that after each corner I had to sprint to even catch the tail. Two guys were dropped quick during the first lap, and I started to lose contact after turn 2 of lap 2. The peloton was right there for most of lap two but I couldn't return, it seemed to be too fast and I was catching a lot of wind. I decided to try to work with the guys dropped to possibly tag back on. For the next three laps or so we tried to get something organized but it was too late, we lost too much time trying to get the line working, and it seemed like one guy just didn't have the energy to keep the pace up during the pulls. After another lap the line had gone from 3 to 2, with one guy not having enough energy. I decided to give it everything I had to try to catch back up, but the group was out of sight and it was difficult to tell how far we were back. The other guy left and I took turns pulling, but after 1 lap of going as fast as I could (about 24 mph avg) he was not able to do any fast pulls at the front. So being on my own I pushed myself as hard as I could. I ended up basically doing a time trial (I really didn't want to get lapped) but I ended up being lapped on the third turn of the race....
So all and all it was fun, but I would have liked to do a lot better than I did. I guess that's how the cookie crumbles as they say.
For the most part I would have to say this was one of my worst efforts in the past 6 months. Perhaps it was lack of training or experience but I would have liked to do better than this... anyhow here we go.
I raced in the North Las Vegas Crit, (which I believe is the first ever) in the Cat 4/5 event. There was roughly 20 people in this race and it started promptly at 8:05 am. Today was a really good day to race, the weather is nice (90 degrees little wind and low humidity) The course was rather interesting, it was a 1.9 mile loop (which made about a 4-5 min lap) around an industrial/business park, and I would have to say my only complaint is that we had to cross over rail road tracks twice in one loop. (once during a turn, the other on a straight)
The race got off to a good start, and once we started rolling we had to ride about 75-100 meters to the first right hand turn. I clipped in and got behind a rider I reconized (rode with him in a club ride last spring) and figured I'd just see where things go from there. After the first right hand turn the course goes slightly uphill, enough to slow down the speed a few miles but not really anything too serious. At the top of the hill we had to turn left (over the railroad tracks) and ride a short straight and turn right (turn 3). We then headed about 400 meters to our next right (turn 4) hand turn and the longest straight on the course, it was probably the fastes part of the race. Another right turn (turn 5), and a straight that sweeps into a curve bringing us back to the start finish line...
Unfortunately, after the first three turns I got pushed to the outside a bit and was in the back of the peloton. I guess I was a bit tired or nervous about the corners but on the next turn I really had to turn it up to catch back on to the end. (I was yo-yo ing :() it seemed like the first lap was so fast that after each corner I had to sprint to even catch the tail. Two guys were dropped quick during the first lap, and I started to lose contact after turn 2 of lap 2. The peloton was right there for most of lap two but I couldn't return, it seemed to be too fast and I was catching a lot of wind. I decided to try to work with the guys dropped to possibly tag back on. For the next three laps or so we tried to get something organized but it was too late, we lost too much time trying to get the line working, and it seemed like one guy just didn't have the energy to keep the pace up during the pulls. After another lap the line had gone from 3 to 2, with one guy not having enough energy. I decided to give it everything I had to try to catch back up, but the group was out of sight and it was difficult to tell how far we were back. The other guy left and I took turns pulling, but after 1 lap of going as fast as I could (about 24 mph avg) he was not able to do any fast pulls at the front. So being on my own I pushed myself as hard as I could. I ended up basically doing a time trial (I really didn't want to get lapped) but I ended up being lapped on the third turn of the race....
So all and all it was fun, but I would have liked to do a lot better than I did. I guess that's how the cookie crumbles as they say.