And by my results the real work has officially begun as well..
I had intentions of hitting up Spring Fling on Saturday and Perry on Sunday, but a full day with my baby boy all to myself was too much to pass up. So I headed out to do the Cat 4 race at Perry Lake KS on Sunday.
I recently upgraded to Cat 4 this winter after only one official road race under by belt which was the Tour of Lawrence as a Cat 5. Ironically these races resembled each other with a good climb each lap. Let me tell you, finishing up a race on a hill is way different mid season than first race of the year.
Being my first "real" race I kept my ambitions at bay and just see what happens. Lining up I notice a good handful of dudes I recognize from CX but other than that it is a completely new scene to me.
First lap I just got into the groove of riding in a group. At first I did not like being in the middle all that much, until sucking all the wind on the outside made me learn to get real comfortable in the middle of the pack real quick. I am sure its just because were still 4's but the group was a flippen accordion the entire time, speeding up then slowing down.
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| I think this was the final climb of the day. I was barley hanging on. |
I was able to stay with the group the entire race up till the final climb which exposed my lack of form real quick. You had to stay on the group because at the top of the hill (finish line of the circuit) it immediately went down hill and I was afraid that a group would get away and being left behind.
After the downhill it ran across the Perry Lake Dam where the group would eventually slow down. Throughout the race a couple guys would try and make a break but I don't think anyone got further than 20 seconds up the road.
Third lap was the KOM lap and even climbing like crap I toyed with the idea of giving it a shot. Well, until we actually hit the hill and I was already 30 yards back and that completely scrapped that idea.
Last lap I somehow ended up in front by the end of the Dam and decided on a whim to put in a dig after the last corner onto some smooth roads. Took a Cycle City guy with me and he said we had a gap but I don't have the legs to hold anything right now and after 1/2 mile everyone had chased us down already. Perhaps burning a match that close to the finish was not the best idea, but hey, I was climbing like crap. Might as well hurt some legs to have some fun.
I tried to stay in good position at the finish. The final climb had an initial steep section then it leveled out for a long time until it pitched back up at the finish line. I was in good position at the start but hit a wall about the middle of the climb and when It pitched up at the ended I fell off like a meteor to the back of the group. Bummer...
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| Another pic on the climb |
All in all, it was a blast. The race as actually kind of boring as far as action goes, but it was still fun. I am used to being all by myself for hours once I have been dropped by the Cat 1 MTB dudes.
Besides the obvious of gaining form I did learn some things.
1. Get better at staying out of the wind
2. Don't chase down a group that is going to slow down anyway. I burned to many matches chasing down the group only to catch them and then the group slowed down anyway.
3. Take in more calories. For some reason I thought the race was only going to be like 40 min.
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