First race of the year.

Well, first race of the year, and first one since fighting cancer, is in the books.

It wasn’t quite what I had hoped for but, I’m counting it as a success. My wife, my 2 boys and I journeyed down to Colorado Springs this past Saturday for me to do the Air Force Academy criterium. I did the cat 4/5 race, a modest 30 minutes long, as the timing worked out the best with the rest of our family obligations that day. Family life…

It was a sunny, breezy, 40-something degrees out and the course had some minor elevation changes and a really poorly laid out 180 degree turn. I think maybe 60-ish riders started.

I didn’t warm up much. I paid for that later so, note to self, I’ll be warming up a bit more thoroughly next time. I stood nervously on the line while my wife and my young boys cheered for me. I was nervous.

(Me in white helmet looking down - my boys watching me)

It’s funny. I’ve raced bikes all over the world. I’ve won pro 1 / 2 races . And still I was nervous about this race. Would my bike handling be good enough? Would my fitness stand up to the test?

We got our instructions from the ref and 30 seconds later, off we went. I went directly to the front and tried to just sit tight in the first 10 wheels. I was trying to just flow through the turns as best I could. But, the inexperience of the field I was in didn’t make for much flowing. 

(I'm the 2nd rider here)

And I went into the red right away. I was really suffering at heart rates 175-180 beats a minute. And, in fairness, I haven’t seen those heart rates in training yet. I need more exposure at that intensity. I’ll be having a look at how to tweak my training to get that.

Shoulda warmed up more. Shoulda ridden more conservatively at the start.

I stayed in the first 10-15 wheels for about 15minutes and then finally blew. The race had splintered from the start with guys going out the back and getting pulled almost from the first lap. I knew there’d be a group behind me so I drifted back until I found some guys to ride with. With 10minutes left my legs kinda came around and I was able to help pull through smoothly in the closing laps. We reeled in a few guys. On the last lap I went to the front on the small descent and shot through the turn without braking, distancing my less skilled or experienced companions, and sprinted to the line just for the fun of it. It got me 23^rd and, more importantly, I finished my first race of the year.

I had thought, given all my hard work and training since last Sept. that I’d have been stronger. But, I have to weigh in my age, the fact that I went through chemo last year, and that I still have cancer. So, with all of that considered, I’m taking this first race as a success!