Originally Posted by AzTallRider

Okay, well, I now have one race under my bibs. Quite the learning experience. I was expecting a sprint from the start, so I took off, looked back, and was all alone. Oops. So then I was stuck in front with nobody wanting to pass. Spent 4 minutes above what I previously thought was my max HR, wanting a drink from the bottle I left on my car thinking I wouldn't need it in a 15 minute race. People finally started passing me, and I wasn't able to grab a tire right away, so I worked my way back a bit before I found a spot I could hold. That mini-group was too slow, but there was no way I was going to bridge to the folks ahead, so I stayed there to the end. No crash, and I wasn't lapped. I'll have a different strategy next week.