Saturday, April 2, 2011

Waterford Hills Spring Training Series

Today was the second race of the Waterford Hills Spring Training Series in Michigan. It is a criterium style race on a bumpy closed course used mainly for motorcycles. I like racing here as you don't have to worry about cars and they've usually got indoor bathrooms (although not today!).

I decided to race in the "B" race but wasn't too sure how I would fair given that my cold is still holding on. Very interesting race as I coughed quite a few times, although I wasn't the only one! It became a fast race after a fairly gentle start, with an overall average of about 36 kph.

It was a fairly good race for me although there were a couple of riders who were squirrelly. I ended up on the grass once but easily recovered and stayed with the group. With about 7 minutes to go before the final 2 laps, I noticed that a breakaway was about to happen. As I was about 1/2 way back or more, I wasn't really in a good spot to jump on. I swung out to my left and pushed hard to the front but the group was already away. I just kept my momentum going and continued to push hard--trying to bridge the gap and get into the lead group.

Well, I pulled aw
ay fairly quickly from the main group while trying to catch the breakaway. I got closer and closer to the breakaway and the main group kept falling back. On the last lap, the lead 7 riders started sluffing and it looked like no one wanted to do any work. I continued to catch up. Well, I just ran out of road....

I got to within 12 seconds of the breakaway but still too far to get into the top 5. I ended up in 8th, very respectable given my health and the fact that I haven't done much training in the last 2 weeks. Maybe with a little more training and orange juice I'll be better next week.

more images

Full results at: Flying Rhino Cycling Club