After not have much luck in criterium racing I thought I would change it up and try my first road race. The race started later to the delight of Anne. The race was in Northern San Diego county and started at 1025am. It was a 14.5 mile loop containing a lot of climbing around 900 feet per lap for 3 laps. That was a total of 45 miles roughly. This was the first race I really started thinking about what to wear and what to bring. When we arrived it was chilly and cloudy so I put on my three quarter length shorts and a short sleeve jersey. Then it started to warm up so I put on the regular shorts. I change three more times before deciding to go with the shorts.I figured that my increased training and not having to sprint all the time would be an advantage for this race. So I lined up behind the motorcycle got my instructions and started the race. Luckily I choose the right clothes because at the finish it was sunny and in the upper 80's.
Although I did some Google Terrain searches I did not expect what was about to happen. The race went down hill for around 5 miles then was flat. I was extremely excited because I was near the front saving energy for the whole down hill and most of the flat. At the turn around we sprinted back into a large pack and headed back towards the finish line for the first lap. We started up hill and I maintained my position. Then the hill started to kick up to a steeper incline and I started falling back. I was able to hang on however, and stayed in the pack. Then the hill kicked up again and I lost contact with the pack. I keep going through knowing that I could potentially catch up on the downhill. I looked back and saw people scattered down the hill. I kept going made it to the top turned around and went back down hill. I never did catch back up but I was not going to give up. I used it as a training ride and forced myself to finish. To my dismay I got a flat halfway up the hill on my third lap. I changed the tire and remounted the bike but the change took me 20 minutes and then I had to go 2 miles up hill. I was sore from the long pause and it was mentally challenging to finish. I did though and I was proud of myself just for finishing. I did not hydrate or eat correctly though for this race and ate a ton of food as soon as I got off the bike. I ended up getting a headache and not feeling great for the rest of the day. I have learned from this mistake and have not repeated it yet.
I do have to add that for this race Anne and Ethan were troopers. They only saw me for about 1 minute in 3 hours. Ethan made friends with some of the other kids there and played with them while Anne sat around watching for me to come to the turn around near the finish. They stayed there all morning waiting for me and never really complained. They both have went to all of my races and are always very supportive. Ethan gets really excited and yells for me every lap and Anne has done her homework to learn the language, bikes, and tactics. I think she is even secretly following the Tour de France this year even though she complains when I turn it on.
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