Waterford Hills Wednesday Night Race Series #1

Unbelievable! After what seems like rain and cold and cloud forever this year, it was nearly cloudless and sunny. The temperature hit a whopping 15c just before the race and it seemed like all of south-east Michigan and some of Ontario showed up for the race. Well, not that many people but there were very large fields in both groups and I think that everyone agreed that it was a great turnout for the first race. My only complaint, if you can call it that, was that the wind was around 17kph from the north-east (meaning that you were in the wind on the only up-hill bump).

Well, true to form, I arrived with no time for a warm up! I got stuck in rush-hour traffic coming from Windsor and, it wasn't even that bad. Lots of stopping and parking on I-75 between the Reuther and 12 mile but generally just heavy rush-hour traffic. I simply left too late and had to register, get dressed, put together my bike and get onto the track.

I managed to get my number quickly as they already had me on the list. It surprised me but shouldn't have as the FRCC seems really nicely organized. Sweet, the bathrooms were working too. Everything seemed to be going okay. I thought I was being smart by getting everything ready and then taking my bike to the registration, for what I assumed would give me at least 5 minutes to warm up. Got the Zipp 404s on the Trek and pumped up both tires but, when I was taking the pump off of the rear tire, the valve ripped from the tube. Good thing my tires for the pit were ready so I made a quick swap. Then zoomed over to the registration table for a quick check in and number. The good thing about being so late is that there is usually no one else in line but tonight, there were 6 people in front of me....Ahhhhhhhh!!!!! And then I realized that my arms were cold and my arm warmers were back at my car....

I quickly went back to the car after getting my number and then pinned on the number with 4 pins to save time. Got the arm warmers and headed back where I could already see everyone lining up. Well, I went onto the track and did a partial lap for a warm up. The bike felt good and seemed to be in good order although I quickly noticed the difference between the Zipps and the Bontragers.

There's not too much to report about the race. I started with the hope of just staying with the group due to the lack of warm up. I managed to do that but really felt it later in the race. There were a lot of new riders and a lot of unnecessary braking and swerving but no crashes. I think that last week's race of the near crash had a psychological effect on me as I was a little nervous of the new riders so stayed at the back for the entire race. I always feel guilty back there as I will jump every now and then and anyone behind me will fall off the back. Now I know this is good racing but the new riders do need the experience of a few races.

There was one memorable point in the race for me. About 8 minutes before the final 2 laps, a guy broke away by himself. I was at the back watching and then saw another guy jump from the front and he moved quickly to catch the first rider. I knew that this could turn into something organized because of the teams in the race. And, after about another 5 seconds, a team member of one of the first two guys also jumped. I knew this was getting bad but from my position with about 50 riders in front of me, there seemed to be little to do. But, we turned the corner onto the long straight-away with the wind to our backs. I jumped out left, 'on your left,' and hammered away. A fourth guy jumped from the front and really quickly and very fast (!!!!) jumped onto the leading three. Well, I had busted past the rest of the main group and others either sensed the same thing as me or didn't want the fat guy to pass them and they jumped onto my wheel. After leading out the chase for 1/2 a lap, we caught them, but I just couldn't get the wheel on the fourth guy. Good thing the guy behind me understand my signals and he stepped up and filled the gap. So even with quite a few new riders, there were a lot of cyclists with good experience and a number I recognized.

I remained in the first 1/3 of the group for a lap but let myself fall back. This was a mistake as I should have stayed there for the last 5 minutes and this would have kept me in contention. But, I think my nerves (and not my legs) failed me as I didn't want to bump and get boxed in. So, I dropped back to the rear and likely did as much work as if I had been pulling the group. I tried to work my way back up on the last lap and did manage to get about 1/2 back up as the group strung out but it was just too late. On the last turn, it was already too obvious that I wasn't sprinting tonight and I coasted into the finish with the other riders.

I don't know my position as they only post the top 16 riders. Safe to say I wasn't in the top 16 but I finished with the main group. Not too bad considering my legs were tired from driving in rush-hour traffic before the race. I would guess that I was about 35th in the race and that there was about 80 riders in the race.

Race results at: USA Cycling

Race information at: Flying Rhino Cycling Club