Beneficial Ear

It went as so:

I biked there (about 11 miles) and I was pretty excited so I left too early... with it being cold I ended up doing a ridiculous 29 laps of warmup before the race even started - the course is .8 mile. As the race drew near I really "warmed up" and noticed I was flying by everyone else who was warming up... I wasn't getting winded, so I just kept going and did my thing. Turns out my warmup pace (on some laps) was faster than the actual race pace (on some laps).

The race was 10 laps.

Mis clipped at the beginning, caught up and passed the field on the first straight into the first turn - ended up in a 2 man breakaway right away @ a strong pace, but one I could hold. This was the pace I expected the race to be, I actually expected the pack to swarm me! After the first lap there was a big gap and I let the other guy take his pull... he lasted to around the next corner and blew up... I maintained pace around for another lap and pondered my options. The pack did not yet respond, and it was the turning point - go for it or sit up and save energy for the end.

I sat up and waited, as at this point I wasn't tired at all and figured if the pack responded I might end up dropped after burying myself - I had no idea at this point the fitness of the riders in general but I knew the area teams were well represented and some of them are known to be strong so I just played it safe.

I stayed near the front of the pack for the majority, didn't even draft most of the time because the pace was basically my normal cruising pace (see warmup pace above) and I was constantly blocked out/didn't feel like fighting for a wheel. I was kinda wishing I just woulda went for the solo breakaway at this point! I pondered going for another but I just waited.

At some point there was a 2 or 3 man breakaway and I helped pull the pack up to them after they had a good spread - this was still with a handful of laps to go, totally not needed. In doing so I got a bit tired, but far from killed myself. The teams knew what they were doing, I got off the front after the break was caught and the pace went down.

I sat in the pack till the last lap and waited for a move once the pace FINALLY picked up... the move came and the wheels I was on at that point weren't contesting at all so I had to just go at it myself after waiting for them to make a move (waited just a little too long!) I took the corner wide to get around but it was too close to the finish and the first 3 wheels were too far ahead at that point... actually I imagine someone was on my wheel as I could hear some serious AHHHHHH right behind me, but he didn't pass. Total noob mistake, i'm not sure why I stayed seated and pushed that way big gear... ah, because I didn't know what the hell I was doing... lol, lesson learned.

So, I still managed 4th!

This is on a steel bike with 2200 group (khs flite 220, 2010 model), I do keep it in good condition and just got a set of vuelta corsa lites. And perhaps much cooler is that in September of last year I was 225lbs and riding even 10 miles at a less than average townie on a single speed pace KILLED me, especially what seemed like "giant hills" (overpasses) here in Chicago. Now I'm 170 (6'1"), and fit enough to be an ill-prepared idiot and still manage 4th in a big city race with alot of guys who are on teams and are much more experienced but don't cat up for their various reasons, I feel really great about that

I'm really happy, and I KNOW I can win a cat 5 race (next one?), and I KNOW with tactics I can cat up quick!

You can checkout the ride here: https://app.strava.com/activities/45993637# If you check my profile you can see the other rides of the day (to the place + 4 more laps around the course, back home etc).

mattm

cool

caloso

Nice. Congrats!

climber7

great job, and welcome to racing!

if you "weren't tired at all" and the entire race was only 8 miles, it might not have been a bad idea to go for it. but patience is important and it took me a while to figure that out (still learning), so i can't knock you too much for that...

also, for future reference, there's a race results thread.

Beneficial Ear

Very glad to be here! I hope I can win some races soon!

I thought it was 10 laps, but I count 14 now on strava. Still only 11 miles, had I thought of it that way I probably would have gone for it and just hammered out an 11 mile TT! Strava reports the averaged race pace to be 23.5mph... and although once I got far enough ahead things would have changed, I feel I could have averaged that for 11 miles - I was averaging ~25mph before I sat up, wasn't a walk in the park but I could have pulled a few more laps at that pace for sure and then nursed the gap as best I could, which if the field had still not responded would have been a big chore to close unless I totally blew up.

Future reference noted, the thread and the racing experience

Jandro 

Good report but it belongs in the Race Results thread. Feel free to copy it there; closing this one.