FLCC> Early Season Racing

[Joseph Bailey]

I could imagine how some people groaned while reading the subject of this e-mail.  However, as I explained to some folks at the last seminar, USCF denied my Cat 3 upgrade saying I was 2 points short.  With that in mind, I signed up to do the 4/5 race at the Johnny Cake Lane Series race in Coxsackie.  For those who have never done this race, it is multiple laps of a fairly flat 6 mile course with 3 sharp, short rises per lap.  The day before the race, I received an e-mail from the organizer asking anyone who felt they could race in the 1/2/3 field to move up in order to open up the wait list.  Considering teams like Kenda/Raleigh and Targettraining were bringing full squads, I felt this could be a great learning experience.
At the start, Steve Sloan and I were huddled together with 2 other central New York racing regulars, Wayne Bray and Erik Markewich (Windham Mountain).  We were conversing on how some of these guys' thighs were bigger than my wasteline.  I expected the teams to try to form a breakaway, so I wanted to stay near the front to avoid splits.  I never knew the first 20 miles would be the fastest 20 miles i've ever done in a road race...we averaged just a little under 27 mph for the first 4 laps.  When the field is all strung out in the wind and you look up to see somebody attacking off the front, you suddenly find religion again.  Finally, about 25 miles in, a break of 8 rolled off the front with the major teams represented.  When I looked around, I noticed that Steve and Erik were gone, along with half the field.
>From then on, the pace was steady 23-24 the whole time, without the insane accelerations.  Starting the ninth and final lap, Kenda/Raleigh, knowing that the break was gone decided to start trying to set up a sprint.  I figured, "Hell, I'm the only Cat 4 here.  I've made it this far, I might as well try to sprint."  Needless to say, I had no legs to sprint into a 20 mph headwind against those guys.  I went from 5th wheel to 15th wheel in a matter of 300M.  I finished 20-25, somewhere between Andy Ruiz and Wayne Bray.  Steve Sloan rolled in about 5 minutes later in a small group including Dieter Drake.  I was kind of bummed, knowing that I most likely would have gotten those 2 points, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity.  Over the 54 miles, I learned some very important lessons:
 
1.  At that level, you will ride closer to other people than you ever have before, and you better be comfortable with it, or you will be at the back.
2. Yellow Line Rule, what yellow line rule?- Goal #1 was to stay out of the wind...if there was not a literal yellow line on the road, the rule did not exist in this race.
3. Everyone suffers- As Andy Ruiz so elegantly put- "Those first 4 laps were so F$%^ing fast, I felt as if I hadn't been riding my bike for 30 years."
 
All in all, a great experience and an awesome morale booster.  Justin Lindine eventually won from the break, but that was the last thing on my mind.  Thanks for reading.
 
Joe
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