It is basically the end of the racing season here in California. We have one of the longest racing seasons stretching from February to August. There are a few races here and there between September and January but nothing like the weekly races we have in the spring and summer. So I decided to give the Ontario course another shot.
This was not the Ontario course that I had my first same lap finish. This was the Ontario course the spit me out in 15 minutes. The course was altered slightly from the last time but it was still a CAT 4-5 race. I wanted to the challenge though because I am planning on racing CAT4 next season and I wanted to know how I was doing.
The race was scheduled at the same time as the last one, 315pm on a HOT summer afternoon. I actually sat in the car until 25 minutes before the race to stay as cool as possible. I warmed up and headed to the line with butterflies in my stomach. Anne didnt like the idea of another 4-5 race because the last one did not go so well. I needed to know that I would be ready to move up next year.
Just like last time there was a strong wind, but this time it was a head wind in only two short sections. The race took off and all 75 riders headed down for the first corner. I stayed near the front for the first 4 laps. I was actually surprised how easy it felt to keep up with the field. Last time it was a struggle every lap last time. I thought I heard Ethan yelling every lap but I found out later that he was sleeping for half the race.
I also learned from my mistake last time and picked a place to drink each lap. I decided to drink on the front straight each lap because the race seemed sensible at that point. I was able to stay towards the front of the race and in the middle of the pack so I had good wind protection the whole race.
The race was actually really reasonable as far as accelerations and group riding. The only time that things got a little nervous for me was on the front straight as I was drinking with 2 laps to go. I had a rider on my right with about 2 inches between our handle bars and no one on my left. All the sudden a rider flies in from the left hitting my handle bars and knocking me into the rider next to me. I only had one hand on the handle bars and a water bottle in the other sandwiched in between to riders at 26 mph. I didnt even have enough room to put my water bottle away. I had to slow down slip back and then put the water bottle back in the cage.
I got to hear the magic words in this race. I am actually glad that they came when they did. I was starting to feel a little light headed and had contemplated stopping or slowing down at least. I had promised Anne before the start that I would stop if I started feeling the affects of the hot weather. When I heard the announcement I knew that there was only another 10 minutes of suffering.
I was able to stay with all the moves on after four laps to go. The pace really picked up on the last lap and I was able to cover most of them. On the last little short trip into the wind I started to fall back. I turned out of the wind and rode to the finish line. I was happy that I finished the race even though I was about 10 seconds off the back of the field.
Once again I waited for the results to see how I did. I figured that I would be at the bottom but on the results page none the less. It took a while for the results to be posted, I figured because it was a large field to sort out. When they were up I started looking for my name and couldnt find it. 62 riders finished the race and the results were on 2 pages. I figured I would be in the 50th place range and was starting to get mad. So I started from the top and to my surprise I found my name in 35th place, on the first page.
I was excited to place that well and everyone was happy for me. I immediately thought of something Bob Roll had said during one of the stages of the Tour de France. Bob Roll was a role player on the team, to lead out sprinters on flat stages. He said that the other role players would compete to get on the first page (97 riders per page). I made it onto the first page in a primarily CAT4 race.
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