The 2011 Season Begins

After months of dark, cold and long journeys on the bike, it's finally time for some racing.  The weather had me feeling down all week and I was having a hard time getting in the mood to race in the rain and wind this morning. Armstrong Hill Road Race however, is a great course and one that suits my riding abilities well.  It gave me my first taste of cycling success last season and I wasn't going to miss it.  


The morning started a bit rough for Lindsey, Monte and I as we got off to a late start, became lost and I threw on a new vest with the tags still on the back in a scamper as the last rider to the line.  It was cold, wet, windy and overall a dismal day to be on the bike but as my friend Patrick Means says, it's far better to race in this weather then just ride in it.  


The race was 11 laps and about 50 miles with one steep climb to tackle.  As expected, the first couple laps where filled with heavy braking, erratic riding in the wind and eager beavers slamming on the gas up the climb.  Entering the 4th lap I took to the front in an effort to get through the corners and descents ahead of the braking pace-line which was literally bringing our flow to a halt at all four of the main corners.   When I looked back I had about a 100 meters on the group with less effort spent then being in the pace line.  I eased up entering the headwind stretch but the group wasn't catching up and all of a sudden I didn't feel like riding in someones rooster tail.  Feeling really really good I climbed the hill nice and steady each lap.  The gap kept growing with the group being unable to get organized in the wind and unable to cruise through the descent with the same efficiency a solo rider could.  Looking down from the top of the climb I could see my lead growing on the group 300 ft below. This provided a ton of motivation to keep hammering away to a first place finish by a margin of over 5 minutes.


I knew it wasn't smart to go off the front so early but figured this was a good time of the year to gamble on a long shot while ensuring a killer workout.  I liked my odds given the hard time folks were having with the weather but was 50/50 on my fitness carrying me through 8 laps solo.  It's good to start racing again and get a boost of confidence that my training has me headed in the right direction for the bigger races ahead.

Crossing the finish line