Golden State Race Series (Maybe Not My Smartest Decision)

Feeling pretty nervous lining up in a field of over 50 riders in my first race since the crash.

A while back, before my crash, I had signed up for the Golden State Race Series as my first races as a Cat 4.  I intended to use the time between Sea Otter and this race to improve my abilities riding flat courses.  All was going according to plan until I decided to also start getting into mountain bike racing shape.  I took my mtb out for a high-intensity ride on easy trails to get me back into racing.  As I am sure you have seen in previous blogs, that didn’t end so well.  On top of that, I caught a cold a week later.  This trashed the two weeks of training leading up to the race.

I was alone my first race back, my fellow BCers
rode in other race categories so I was on my own.

As I talked to my wife about this, our first thoughts were to have me skip the races that weekend. With it being just two weeks after the big crash my shoulder was still fragile and could easily be re-injured if something went wrong that -along with having a nasty, nose-dripping, throat-scourging cold virus- was hampering my ability to get out for good training rides. 



Todd (BC teammate) chills with my son Jax.



Monday before the races I started to have a change of heart. My shoulder was improving rapidly and I was anxious to finish off the recovery phase by getting into a race.  I still had some self testing to do on the bike to see what type of riding I could do.  If nothing else, I can mix it up a little and then drop off the back if my shoulder and legs aren’t up to it.  It turns out that my shoulder was doing great with the hard efforts on Tuesday and Wednesday.  I wasn’t sure about my legs since I was riding by myself, but winning a crit and circuit isn’t about who has the strongest legs.  If I can keep up, I have a chance at winning or placing in the top ten.



Looking more confident than I felt.



On race day I was nervous…  It was almost like it was my first race all over again.  In many ways it was.  It was my first race as a newly minted Cat 4 rider and my first race since the crash. Racing as a Cat 4 meant that larger field sizes were now allowed.  Doing a crit against 30 people was already a challenge.  On Saturday's race there were over 50 riders on the track and on Sunday we had over 65!

 

While I dealt with a large field at Sea Otter, this is different in that there weren’t any hills to create separation in the field.  At times I was stunned to see the long train of riders in front of me.  How do I work my way up to the front without totally exhausting myself?  I managed this two ways:  first was to try and grab a wheel of someone charging up to get to the front; the other way was to make up ground going through turns.  While there weren’t any major turns, they still caused enough separation to create opportunities to move up quickly. 



My finish did not make me a happy camper.

The results for the day?  Not so good.  I can safely say that I am not in my comfort zone when trying to do a sprint finish in a massive pack of 50 or more riders all crammed together like sardines.  On the first day I was cut-off by a rider who unexpectedly swerved while I was making my way to the front for the final sprint.  On the second day I was nearly taken out by another racer on one of the final laps which shook my nerves a bit and caused me to fall back in the pack.  I had one last shot to make something of the race, but hesitated for a moment, and in that hesitation my window closed and the race was lost (as my wife always says: “He who hesitates is lost”). 



Race results, at least I finished in
front of 35 other guys.

While I was upset for much of the weekend -I was moping around because I feel like I didn’t perform well- my wife put it into perspective when she said that I wasn’t even supposed to race that weekend. I still wish I had performed better however with that new perspective I was able to focus on the positive: I am excited to be racing again.  I am back on the bike, training hard, with continued full support from my wife.  Sooner or later I will get this flat crit/circuit thing figured out. 




So in the end, I didn't even finish top ten in my first Cat 4 race but, looking back, I would have made the decision to race all over again. There just isn't any other way to simulate the intensity of a race ride and I needed the competition to guage where I am at in my recovery. And it was still a hell of a lot of fun.

As usual, my son goes to my races to pick up girls.

Side note:  It is good to have friends out there looking out for me even if they are on another team.  At one point Morgan, from the Bicycles Plus Race Team, was giving me good advice during the race.  What a great sport to be involved in!  Thanks Morgan!

Morgan took some video of this race:

http://wordpress.ncncaracing.com/2011/05/22/road/may-22-golden-state-circuit-race