Wait if you did well at the race last year and you're racing it this year, does that really mean retired? To me it just seemed like you had a much easier winter than normal. Or whatever the "off" seasons are where you are.
I think you'll be fine. Just be prepared for some shocked looks on faces as they pass you if you really are riding as poorly as you claim. Worst of my experiences when I was extremely heavy and still trying to do some semblance of riding was the "advice" I got from non-racers on group rides like Gimbles. You know, "Use a lower gear"; "If you spin more you'll go faster"; "Here, stay on my wheel" etc etc. Back of the short group and I'd get dropped before the 120 sprint. One week I got dropped by the cool classic car place - for non-Gimbles riders, that's about 7-8 minutes into the warmup if you park at Verizon and about 20 minutes from any kind of speed. Everyone is just tooling around, talking, etc, and I exploded. I turned around and went back to my car.
I guess you should do your hard riding for the next week. Then take it easy, fuel up, and go for it.
good luck,
cdr
oh we all expect a report on how things go after you do it
