My first race......
 

Well, months ago I signed up for my first race. It was this one:

http://www.bloodsweatandgears.org/bsg/main/start.htm

Ok, so having been a member of this forum for about a year or so, I thought I'd be pretty well prepared. So two weeks or so ago, I went out and drove the race route with my garmin 705 and recorded all the data. Last weekend I went out and road the race route, just to familiarize myself with the roads, potholes, etc., and again recorded all the data, and my time, etc.

In this past week, I rode about 100 miles in preparation, some hills, my long ride was on Wednesday, about 25 miles on Thursday, and I actually didn't ride at all on Friday although I had planned to, but I couldn't due to my schedule.

Friday night, I had a good well balanced dinner, and got to bed early, around 9:30 or so. The race started at 7:30 Saturday morning and we had to leave here by 6:30 cuz I had a half-hour drive to get there.

I can say I didn't sleep very well, but I did sleep soundly Friday night. Woke up several times during the night thinking about the race, thinking about my plans and strategy. I slept, but not well. I woke up around 5:00 a.m. and made coffee. Then spend some time fixing four drink bottles with heed, and two flasks with the hammer gel in them for the race. Then I fixed my cooler for the car.

My wife and mom who came up for a visit got up and we all soon were ready to head to the start. I got there about 7:10 and was way back in the peleton for the start. The race started exactly at 7:00 a.m. after the national anthem played.

The start with about 1250 cyclists was not too bad. I've never ridden in a group that large before, but I didn't have any problems. Everyone seemed to string out after 3-4 miles about 6-8 people wide, until we reached the first hill. Then the group thinned down to about four or five people wide.

The leaders I never saw after the start. We got to the first hill, which was about 5-6 miles long, and about 1000 foot climb. That really thinned out some folks. I wound up in the middle of the pack after that hill.

This was a half century in the middle of the Appalachian mountains. The century ride had about 13000 feet of climbing. Our race had only about 4500 feet of climbing in 50 miles.

A friend of mine finished third, in right about 2 hours. He won last year. I finished in four hours. I figure not too bad for an overweight 51 year old who only started biking last June.

I have lost 40 lbs since last June. I am now officially totally hooked on road racing. I'd like to loose at least 10 more lbs this summer. I really want to be competitive. I make no excuses. I rode part of the way beside a cyclist who had no legs, only prostetic legs, and only one arm, and no hands. He finished ahead of me. If that is not inspiration, with no excuses, no "special" or "handicapped" status, no "older" or "masters" status, what is?? That is absolutely inspiring as can be.

I continue to ride this summer with a renewed spirit. I have a goal. I now have a purpose. I want to be a road racer. A competitive road cyclist. I want to be one of you guys.

So, thanks for your help, your feedback, your criticism, your abuse, your encouragement. What a great weekend. What a great sport.


:D
RDAttachment 157382

that's me in the blue jersey.

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this is a pic of the start.

Congrats, glad you enjoyed it, but isn't that a ride rather than a race?

sure, you may certainly look at it that way, but I was "racing" against my time the previous weekend, which I beat by almost 30 minutes BTW. So, either way, it sure was exhilarating!!

Yea, it doesn't look like a race to me either.

ok, ride. It was a ride. A very fast ride. It was still fun. It was a lot of fun.

fify

edit: Congrats on doing it and also be well prepared for it. I plan to do this one in Sep and it will be the first time I attempt that century option.

Okay that's enough. You had fun, it was decent paced, and you enjoyed yourself. That's whats most important.

Half the freds here couldn't do that ride.

Congrats on the race and your weight loss.
Sounds like you had a great time. More surely to come.

Is that Substructure in the 2nd photo?

I only know two of the guys in the start pic, Andrew Stackhouse of Pirate Race Productions (who finished 34 in the century) and Noah Nowinski who finished 7th in the century with a time of 4 hours 11 minutes. They are both to the far left side of the pic.

That's his team, but I don't know if it is him.

glad you had fun! keep working your way up.

Way to go! I need to get the nerve to race, however I fear of a crash. If the bike gets damaged I will be cycle-less for a while.