So this past weekend, I did another road race. Voluntarily. I know what you must be thinking... "didn't you get enough of that during the collegiate season?" Well, apparently I hadn't, because I found myself signed up for 3 events in the French Broad Cycling Classic. My expectations were low, since my only experience with road racing had been against people who were significantly stronger than me when I had no idea what I was doing.
So I lined up for the TT on Friday night in full speed demon getup. I had borrowed a TT bike from Josh S. and had his sperm helmet to complement my skinsuit. After hearing from everyone that I shouldn't go too hard from the start, I went out conservitively, and ended up feeling pretty good. I averaged 28.14 mph for 26.5 minutes, and walked away with a 2nd place finish. I was pretty happy with that.
On Saturday I did the road race, which was apparently unlike any other event in the country. It was a 40 mile point to point race that finished up a 2 mile steepish climb. I managed to make the main selection in the race halfway through up the first big climb, and then managed 3rd out of the main group, and 8th overall behind an early break. I was actually pretty happy with that, since I didn't expect to do much on the climb, but really felt good and passed a bunch of people late in the game.
I went into the Sunday crit trailing by one point in the omnium standings, so I was thinking that I would have a pretty good shot at the omnium, since I was sure I would be able to best the climbers that had beaten me the day before. I knew I was in over my head though when before the race I got accosted by one of the rival teams who, once they found out who I was, told me that they would be marking me and not letting me win, but that I shouldn't take it personally. Whatever.
That got me a little worked up, so I was like, "fine. You want to play that way, lets go." Only cooler and in a more dramatic fashion. I got the hole shot at the start, and proceeded to do some work at the front. I pretty much single handedly chased down every attack and made pace for most of the race. At one point, after being stupid at the front for 3 laps, I was hurting a little bit and decided to sit in and recover for half a lap. Then I went again. After I pretty much destroyed the team that told me to watch out, I was right where I needed to be on the final lap, 2 wheels back. On the flat before turn 3 I attacked the group and blitzed into the corner just a little too hard. I ended up overcooking the turn and doing a little mountain biking trying to get back on course. By the time I got back on track I was well in the back and held on for 26th place.
I still ended up 3rd in the omnium, which was pretty cool since I went into the weekend unsure of what to expect. I feel good about it since I was stronger than I thought I would be. Cat 3 is definitely where I belong for the time being, and since I don't expect to be upgrading any time soon, that's a good thing. At the moment, I'm just looking forward to racing some more.
