Friday Night

Well, even though there was some mass confusion and lack of organization, the races Friday night were pretty good. Aside from the 2 hour delay in getting things started, I had a good time. I really enjoyed it, even if I didn't do as well as I should have.

The course was around the 2nd St area of downtown Austin, and about a third of the course was pretty rough pavement. I got in the lead group from the gun, but hit a hole really hard, and that in turn caused my sensor for my computer to move, which then caused my magnet to get jettisoned out of my wheel. In determining what if any damage was done to my bike, since it was making a horrific noise, I dropped off the back of the group. Stupid move. This left me in no man's land between the chase group and the break.

I did a few laps until I was caught, then hung in with the chase. Too bad no one was in the mood to chase, so we kept losing time. On the last lap I just missed a crash, and that put me pretty far back in the pack, so I think I ended up in the top 30. However, staying upright and not getting lapped was a major accomplishment. So I now know the course and what to expect. I'm ok with getting in the top half of the race all thing considered. I just made two mistakes. One, I let the lead group go, two, I wasn't in the front of the chase group early enough, and that cost me a decent finish. Besides the fact I also wa spushed wide on Colorado St and my right hand hit the rear view mirror of a parked car that wasn't removed didn'r help me either.

I lined up for my second race, and it was faster. A few laps in I hit a hole and blew my front tire out around the next turn. I got a wheel at the pits, got back in, and hit the same hole (it was very dark in that corner) again and something didn't feel right. So I bagged it and ended the race. Besides, I had to race the next day.

Now, I love to race, but ususally there isn't too much in terms of spectators. Friday night was the best race of the year. Nothing like racing in front of a huge crowd. Now if only they could get the crowds to the size of the Chris Thater Races in Binghamton... But I had a bunch of coworkers come cheer me on, and that was really cool. Hopefully next year I do better.

Saturday I drove up to Bryan TX for the age graded State Championship road race. I was in the 30+, and there were 25 of us. 66 miles of pure hell. I rode pretty well, and since I was the lowest category there, I was happy. Really, I was. I was in the lead group, and then I just imploded. The night before, the speed, it all took it's toll, and I just couldn't pedal any more. So with 10 miles to go I turned around, as it was only 3 miles to the car that way. Once back at my car, I stripped down to just my racing shorts and walked across the lot to the beach and fell into Lake Bryan for a bit. That felt really nice.

So I have one more race of the year, and that's the state championships for categories in Copperas Cove. I'm looking forward to some redemption, and I'm looking forward to some time off.