Millport part duex

My first road race was a success.  It is such a rush being in a race flying along at 25mph and hardly doing any work.  I finished 34th out of 55 riders in my race (results here - scroll to the men 4/5).  The winner finished the race in 1 hour 2 min. and I finished 5 min. behind - not bad considering it was my first race of the year and first road race ever.

  I purposely started the race at the back of the field, as I am still gaining experience riding in a large peloton.  Once the really fast guys went off the race splintered in several smaller groups our 5 to 10 riders.  On lap four of nine of the 2.8 circuit, I got into a group of about 8 guys and we rode the rest of the race together.  This was extremely helpful as there was a headwind on the climbing part of the course.  Working together we were able to catch other riders who went to hard from the start and had been shelled off the back of the main peloton because of the wind.  

The road conditions could have been better, but they could have been worse as well.  The rain the day before washed quite a bit of fertilizer (aka cow manure) from the fields onto the road.  By time we raced the roads weren't wet but still a little damp.  As the wheels rolled over the "fertilizer" it would spray up on the rider behind.  By the end of the race I had a nice little coating on me.  But, that is early season bike racing!

Overall it was a great experience and I learned a lot - like how to work in a pace line, how long of a pull (working at the front) to take, and race tactics.  I can't wait to do it again so it's good I have less than 7 days until the next race!  The Fawn Grove Roubaix starts at the Fawn Grove High School.

The Fawn Grove race will be a great opportunity to come out see some great racing for all you southern based fans (aka Maryland) - part of the course actually dips into MD.  Another feature of the course is the 4.2 miles of dirt/stone roads we will be racing on (course map here)  Also, the race doesn't start until 1:00pm so you don't have to be up a the crack of dawn to see the race.  I hope to see all of you there.  

Until the then!

Captain Crunch!

Millport Road Race

I didn't come in last - but I didn't win either. I finished 34th out of about 60 riders. Not bad for my first road race. I will post a more detailed update later!

Captain Crunch

Pre-race update

I am settling in nicely into my new home in NY state.  I'm right outside the Catskill mountains - in fact my window looks right onto the first ridge of the mountain chain.  They have made for some great riding so far.  I haven't gone deep into the park yet since it is still early in the season.  I have done a few 50/60 mile rides over the first ridge.  Next month I intend to start putting in some serious 70 mile weekend rides and by May be hitting the century mark at least once or twice a month.  

There is a great group of guys that ride up here.  We probably have at least 6 on average each ride.  Friday we went out for 20 mile loop ride.  Sounds like it wouldn't be that hard, but from the gun guys were taking flyers off the front.  The group would crawl back to him and then another would go.  It went like this for the entire ride and we averaged around 18.5.  It is was short, but super intense.  This is one area that I really need to work on.  I know I can climb and ride 100 plus miles, but the short, intense accelerations needed to reel in an attack and then counter attack is where I am weakest.  A few more weeks of this and I will be flying at the races.

Speaking of races, the first one is less than a week away.  So far the training has been going as planned.  I feel way faster than I did this time last year and am really motivated to get racing.  I should get some pictures while there.  I also will get the cable I need for my camera (I forget to get last time I was back in PA) so I can post them here. 

Keep the rubber side down...

Captain Crunch