brickhouseracing

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend”

Today, the enemy of my enemy was the heat. With a 4:00 start time, it was hot and humid on the course. 59 starters lined up, and, after an hour of racing, I finished in 19th place- my first top 20 finish in an NRC crit!

Like yesterday, I was feeling better about riding in the large pack and holding my position. Unlike yesterday, the heat seemed to take its toll on some of the very strong riders in the group, allowing me to unload on the last two laps and fight my way up in the charging pack. Tomorrow should be interesting…

Here’s a photo of me on course:

Someone from a local TV station interviewed me yesterday while I was getting ready for my race and said that I’d be on an 11:00 show tonight. I found that I don’t have that channel on the hotel TV, so I’ll miss my lovely TV debut. He let me plug this site, so hopefully if you heard me, and you’re visiting, take a look around- you’ll find mostly race reports and photos, and a lot of other random stuff including home repair, animals, tattoos, and the like. Click “register” at the bottom of the page, leave a comment, and let me know what you think!

Last night’s racing was fun. The course was a pseudo-figure eight that kept everyone on their toes. I felt much more comfortable in the pack than in the Sunny King and Roswell races (though I had few close calls and did throw a couple of elbow “nudges” to some riders who got a little too close for comfort). I am finally getting more comfortable with riding in a pack of fast riders and moving up within the pack. With (relative) ease, I stayed about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way back in the pack. I even managed to find my way up front a few times

During the final laps, I was doing ok until the pace quickened and riders started to get gapped. As the field strung out, and I moved past the dropping riders, I realized I could hear the moto behind me… a sure sign of being in the back of the group! So, as I finished in 33rd place (out of 58 starters) this race ended up being another learning experience. However, as a fun side note, I was 8th place of the other category 2 riders.

I’ve got a couple more chances this weekend to continue making improvements. Realistically, I’ve got to get stronger and faster before I can expect to get in the top 10 finishers- something that just takes time and training.