[ cross post from nor cal regional forum, hi i'm a long-time-lurker-first-time-poster ]
Rode my first sanctioned cat5 race today: the Watsonville crit race. It was nice and cool on that side of the hill, perfect weather.
We got there a bit early and I was able to ride the course for almost half an hour to warm up. It was a tight .75 mile loop in a nice residential neighborhood. The turns were a little choppy with a hairpin left in the middle so I was glad for the preview. We lined up just before noon and got briefed on the rules, inspected for improperly pinned numbers (one 13 year old in street clothes thankfully got pulled for "not having a number"), and then the whistle blew.
Right out the gate I was working harder than I'd expected to. I guess because of the short distance people went out hard at the beginning. I worked pretty well for the first four or five laps but I was redlining unsustainably to stay up. There was a short hill on each lap which seemed to hurt more and more each time up it and I started to move back. I was able to close gaps until the seventh lap when the distance between the main pack and my back group started opening up on the upwind leg. By the eighth (this is fifteen minutes in, mind you) I knew I wouldn't catch back on, especially since a smaller group has to work harder and the bunch was receding in the distance. Other people off the back were dropping out, including the strong looking joker in a mullet wig and daisy dukes and the Fox guys I'd warmed up wtih, but I wanted to finish. I ended up being part of a good group of four guys and we worked together to keep things moving. We got lapped on the 14th, which is an experience I am used to from the SJBC crits so I hollered to keep right and neutralize as the main pack rode past. The last two laps I rode with a few guys who were off the back of the main pack but not lapped and cruised in at 29 minutes. Thanked the race organizers and talked to Todd Manley who was racing 3's and we went on to the beach at Carmel for some fun in the fog.
It was a very intense 30 minutes. I am disappointed in my performance but not terribly surprised. Gotta ride harder, that's all.