Confined Spaces...

I am learning quickly that I have a lot to learn about racing in a field with 1’s, 2’s, and 3’s. I was still a bit apprehensive for the Birds of Prey Road Race on Sunday, but was determined not to repeat my mistakes of the previous week.

I made a baby step this time by lining up in the middle of the pack at the start instead of the back. I also made a point to keep track of my team mates who are all much better racers than me – and stay close to them.

With the course being somewhat easy, and the field being somewhat large racing was somewhat uneventful. A few attacks and associated accelerations here and there, but really nothing too hard. I even accidentally ended up near the front one time when I got in the wrong line that snaked up the side of the field – I have got to be more careful! Ultimately the race ended in a sprint – I just sat in and pedaled it out for the pack finish.
Woohoo! It will be the last for a while…

I did learn a few things along the way. Like how many Masters A’s and Cat 3’s can you fit in a 10’x10’ box – I think about 4 across the front and 4 across the back + about 3 more jammed in the cracks – so about 10. Compare that to maybe 6 in a Masters B race. So what is safer, 6 Master’s B or 10 Masters A/3’s? Probably the 10 Master’s A/3’s – still a bit scary, not for the faint of heart.

It will be interesting to see what happens when we hit the first real hills of the year next week.