Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Grand Prix of Cycling
What can I say, other then I finally had a good Road Race (RR)!
I didn't feel all that great in the morning, and if you ask Aimee, she will tell you that I was a little pessimistic.
The race started pretty close to on time, and one thing I wanted to do was get a good spot on the start line. I was riding laps to get warmed up and was planning to stop on the start/finish at the first sign of the race actually starting....Well when I came around there were the 75 racers all lined up! Damn it! Well, I kinda weaseled my way up to the middle of the start shot. The air horn sounded and we were off!
I quickly got around the not-so-talented bike riders that couldn't quiet clip into their pedals. (The 4/5 category is for the beginners but COME ON!) A small group of 5 riders got off the front right away. I did all I could to get in the group of about 20 riders chasing the 5 riders down. Once I pulled myself to that group, I sat in the draft and recovered for a couple laps. Then as I started to make my way to the front of the group of 20, the race was stopped for a crash. On the restart they gave the 5 riders a 30 second head start then the entire remaining field would take off. This was a little unfair I felt since the remaining 70 riders were not all together at the time of the crash, so some people that were in the hurt got back in the race.
No fear though, I made sure I was very close to the front of the main group on the restart. Once they sounded the air horns I again shoot around the not-so-talented riders and was again in the front chase group. I felt real good, I pulled the group around the 1.08 mile lap and then settled back in about 5 or 6 riders back to rest and get ready to attack on the final lap.
On the final lap and the final corner, I was sitting pretty good, I felt like I could really go for-it on the 5 city block sprint to the FINISH! I made the corner with about 5 guys ahead of me, and we all took off for the finish. Man, I have never sprinted on a bike so hard, I felt my calves, thighs, and abs all ready to explode! Only one guy got around me!
And that is my greatest Road race YET!
14th out of 75!
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