Hipcycler

Just back in town and jumped right on line for the report.

First...thanks for all the interest and in many cases support. It was really fun reading all the different thoughts on my situation.

I can't believe I was crazy enough to do it in the conditions we had Saturday morning, but now comes the best part, which is of course the race report.

I ended up taking both bikes with the new rack (see pix below). We drove through a snow shower on the way there. At race time it was 34 degrees with a north wind howling at 20-25 mph non-stop. It was wicked nasty wind, the kind of stuff that's beyond character building.

Team BF was there.

In pix below that's bikerski on the left, me in the middle and CPcyclist on the right after the race. They did great. CP picked up a medal in his bracket. I finished. I did it. This for me was a huge victory in and of itself. Unofficial results (they have not posted the numbers on their site yet) I was 80th out of 86 racers, 7th in my bracket. Doesn't sound too impressive I know, but I busted my ass to get that out there all alone against the wind. And as my wife pointed out, those other 85 riders must be pretty serious racers to show up in those conditions, and I was just a newbie. Not bad. Here's how it played out...

I started at the back and wanted to play if safe and sound and slow at the start. No problems. But we started into a blast of icy wind as we tackled a steep, short hill. I was being cautious and just letting everyone go thinking I didn't want to kill myself at the start.

In hindsight, now perhaps I wonder if I should have gone ahead and made more of a big effort up front to stay with the peleton. It became clear that it was much easier to ride with a group drafting, and I was left all alone, with a few riders behind and the peleton about a block up. I wanted to bridge the gap, but it was quite clear that the wind was just making things impossible for me to gain any ground on the group, when I was all by myself and they had each other to work off of. The gap grew bigger and bigger until alas I saw no one except corner marshals for most of the event.

As things turned out this was more like a time trial for me...or just a training ride with a lousy time in totally crappy weather. I really didn't get a feel for racing except at the start. Ending up averaging around 16 mph. The winner did the 24 miles in an hour. With that wind, THAT was a heck of an effort.

Yet afterward, once my timing device was removed from my new Klein and I had looked at the results sheet posted I felt very proud. As I looked around at some of the other riders and some of the great looking equipment down in the parking lot I felt good that I was a part of it all.

Clutching a piece of sub sandwich in one frozen hand and holding on to a bottle of water in the other frozen hand, I thought to myself as the wind whipped through my helmet to the very end, "Now I can call myself a bike racer."

More pix once my bro-in-law sends me his digital stuff from the race.

velocipedio

congrats! nothing like the thrill of putting it all on the line!

Bontrager

Congratulations, hipcycler!! Lets see those pics when you get 'em.

Mojo GoGo

Hip,

Great job!!!

velocity

Nice effort dude!!!
Velocity

rcams

WOW, congratulations Hip... took some serious guts to get out in weather like that. Just finishing a first race under those conditions has got to give you a great feeling of satisfaction and the encouragement to continue!

zachisageek

Hey Hip!

Was this race in Whitewater by any chance? I stopped by the race there, but I must have missed most of the action.

Hipcycler

Yup...UW-Whitewater.

my58vw

Nice job, glad to see you went out with the weather...

I think we all ended up dealing with nasty weather today...

Congradulations...

el twe

What bike did you ride?

Mars

Way to go bike racer!! I am so pleased that you went ahead and put yourself out there! I agree with your wife. To race in those conditions would have weeded out all but the most die hard cyclists. Considering your goals for the race, and your choices to stay out of trouble, I feel that you did very well indeed.

Are you going to race again soon?

Hipcycler

Oh yeah...the new Klein. At least it was dry. The flurries ended by race start.

blandin

Congratulations !!!

Hipcycler

In a word-yes.
the one thing I feel cheated about is the fact that I really didn't get to experience riding in a peleton. That's something I want to be able to do, at least for a short time until I get dropped off the back!

Taxman

Congrats Hip. Just being involved is great fun. And when you ride in a group it's even more fun. You have to think quick and stay on your toes. It's going to feel like a whole new step forward in itself for you in your racing ventures.

ZackJones

The huge smile on your face says it all - CONGRATS!

TheKillerPenguin

Congrats from one first timer to another!

DXchulo

Way to go Hip. You did a great job of keeping your options open and not giving up on the race too early (and things had a way of working themselves out as I wisely suggested). Sounds like really harsh conditions, the kind that only real men show up for.

You're going to get addicted to racing. Sounds like a little "If I had stayed up front" is creeping in and you'll want to do another race to stay up front and see what happens. Then in your second race something will happen and you'll start thinking, "If I had done ____ I could have had a better result." Happens to me every time.

formulaben

Good work! Congratulations on your ride.

SteveE

Congrats! I raced yesterday, too. Just started last year at age 53.

Guest

Congrats! It sounds like you had a great experience. Learn from your mistakes, though. Drafting is the way to go!

Happy racing!

Koffee

stealthbiker

Congratulations. Have been in those nasty conditions so give yourself an extra pat on the back - you earned it!

UmneyDurak

Congrats on your first race. You didn't crash, and you finished. Good Job.

JBar

Very cool.

el twe

Awesome. How did she ride?