New Race, Same Place.
Tonight at the “Bud” Cycling Oval in Pittsburgh I raced my first “B” race as a cat4. This B race was with cat4s and cat3s only. This was a different kind of race. Apparently breakaways don’t usually sick in the B race, but tonight I found myself trying to hang on to a 5 man break with about 15 laps to go. This being my first upgraded race, I wanted to be fresh, aware of, and ready for every move that was happening.
There were a few other attacks and break attempts, but I knew some wouldn’t really stick. I found myself chasing a lot after being blocked by teammates of guys in the break. Advantage goes to them, but I was left a few times to catch someone else’s wheel or ride my own effort to catch up to a break.
That 5 man break I mentioned spat me out with I don’t even know how many laps to go. We had about a half a lap (1/4 mile) lead on the peloton. I caught a strong rider’s move to bridge back up with his brother in a then 3 man break. I held on as long as I could noting my constant 195-6 bpm heart rate. Seeing the amount of laps left, even with our lead over the peloton, I knew I was gonna be really taxed to keep up.
I got dropped and rode through the “no man’s land” between the break and the peloton. Once caught, I knew I had to grab whatever wheel I could and recover for the final sprint. On the last lap I was sitting nicely, but I was again blocked by a teammate of a guy in the break giving up. I missed the wheel of a surge for the line. I am happy to say I still came out top ten with an 8th place. I rode hard and got compliments for my racing.
This race was fun and tough. I am excited for next week!
I had written this on another blog of mine and thought that it really deserved to be here. This is where I'll be posting such things. Anyway, I have more or less plotted out where I plan to begin my 2011 racing. The above was my first race as a Cat4 and it was late in the season so I'm looking to keep on training and hope momentum from this showing carries on for the next year. One more race summary to add after this.
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