grwoolf

Tried my first race today - La Primavera road race at Lago Vista outside of Austin.

Raced in the 35+ Cat 4/5, it was a good sized group. The course was tough, 5 mile loop, about 40 miles. Every loop started with a tough climb (including a 15% grade for a short section). It was bascially 5 minutes of pain and then trying to recover for the next loop.

I was pretty nervous at the start, not sure what to expect. I was the only guy I saw without a team kit, everyone looked pretty serious. I was really questioning my sanity. First lap was really good, the climb was hard, but managable. I thought, "no problem, I should be able to go 4-5 laps with the main group". Stupid.

Second lap I was too relaxed and got caught behind a few guys sliding back on the climb. Before I even realized what was happening, there was a gap. This happened as we approached the top of the hill and I buried myself trying to bridge the small gap for several minutes, but I just couldn't do it.

I felt like an idiot for losing the front group, but I wasn't alone. I eased up and hooked on with a couple other guys. I did a few laps (mix of solo and with guys) and then the regular 4/5's caught us. The guys I was with pulled off at that point. I rode a couple more laps until I had one to go and then quit to watch the finish(It wasn't too far behind me, but at least I didn't get lapped). The finishing group was pretty small. I'm not sure if everyone pulled out or they were just straggling on the course.

As far as numbers, average power was 224 and normalized power was 246 watts (was around 260 when I got dropped). The surges on the steep sections were 600 watts/30s and 500watts/1m for the 2 times I went up with the main group (I weigh about 180lbs). I was able to set personal bests from 2.5 - 5 minutes during the time I was trying to pull back on to the main pack. I was pretty happy with that since It was right on the back end of the climb.

Anway, it was a good first experience and I'll be back for more.

echappist

Cheers

bostongarden

Par for the course. As said above

palesaint

Racing 4/5's as a newbie isn't easy, as I'll bet there are a few 4's in there that should be 3s. That makes for some tough competition. You've got a good attitude about it though - hope you continue to have fun and progress quickly!

Smallguy

glad you had fun and also learned something

watch for gaps and get em plugged or get away with them if possible

kleinboogie

Congrats. I hear it gets better.

btw,
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...-Report-Thread!
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...our-first-race

Racer Ex 

It's about having fun. Congrats on getting that first race under your belt.

captnfantastic

I got dropped my first race. So did most people who I talk to. Usually it's a combination of nervousness and feeling "too good" in the middle and taking a hard long pull = POP bye bye everyone.

When you start keeping up it's and finishing it's a rush... and then when your competing for a sprint... well... there's nothing like it.