When I first started racing a friend of mine told me there are no moral victories in racing. Basically, you either get the job done, or go home. This could be winning, winning cash, or making a significant effort to help your team.
Lately I’ve felt as if I were a babbler in the sport of road racing. Well, in road racing if you dabble, you get dropped. So after the Bloomsburg weekend I committed myself to focus on two events towards the end of July, one being the New York State Road Race Championships.
Yesterday I woke to a steady rain and the forecast for the remainder of the day wasn’t looking much better – good chance of thunderstorms throughout the day. I debated about going or not and at the last possible moment jumped in the car and headed off to Buffalo (well, Boston, NY, just south of Buffalo). Don’t get me wrong – I don’t mind racing in the rain, I just hate having to strip my bike down after I get home! Going was a good decision because it never rained while I was there. But there was a stiff wind coming out of the west which played a part in how the race unfolded.
I could ramble on forever so I’ll get right to it:
- 10-mile course with a 2.5 mile climb and a 55 mph decent.
- 5 laps for a total of about 53 miles
- small field – 13 riders. 3 were in the 35-39 age group, 10 in the 40-44 group, including me.
- First time up the climb Chris Tirone puts in a surge towards the top. Great move to make since the wind was blowing hard from left to right. If you didn’t jump on, you were gone. I plus 3 others jumped on, a few laps later a sixth bridged up.
- Last lap Mark Paris of Nalgene R3 attacks the climb and stays away. The rest of us thought about working together to reel him in, but the upper section of the climb sorted out the field.
- At the finish, the race paid 5 deep; I was sixth. Bad cramps in the hamstrings forced me to pull up with 1k to go. Of the 6 in the break, 2 were in the 35+ group which put me 4th in my group. Just missed again, oh well.
Like I said at the beginning, there are no moral victories in road racing, but this weekend I wasn’t a dabbler.
Fred
