First Race of the 2008 Season

My racing season started on 3/1 with a 30 mile road race as week #2 of the Greenville Spring Race Series. The course was the same as the SC State Road Race which meant not long enough or not enough climbs to really separate the field. A friend of mine who races for Red Top Cycling / Team Cycle Therapy out of Georgia joined me in the race and it's always nice to know that you have a familiar wheel even if you're racing alone.

The field started with 50 racers and after the first roller - less than 3 miles in - 6 people got popped off the back and abandoned. Me and my friend were at the front setting the pace on this hill and I can't believe we dropped 6 doing a pace of 17mph. By the time we passed the finish to start the last lap, the pack had split into 2 groups with 20 in the lead pack and 24 in the main. Not sure of the gap but I believe it was several minutes.

The weather turned out great but very windy and by race time it was about 55F. I decided to go with a short sleeve jersey, arm warmers, knee warmers, shoe covers, and regular gloves. Half way through the race, I had to pull down the arm warmers and unzip the jersey as the temperature had risen to about 65F.

As I mentioned, the wind was pretty strong and squelched any solo attempts. In fact, I attempted a solo break about 4 miles from the end of the first lap and got about a 50m separation but shortly realized that I couldn't maintain the pace with the headwind for another 19 miles. I sat up and waited for the group and decided to stay hidden for the rest of the race. My buddy stayed up front for almost the entire race and was spent for the sprint finish.

With about 3 miles to go, the course starts a gradual descent with a small hill at about 1.5 miles from the finish. Once you crest the hill, you make a left hand turn and have about 3/4 of mile to an uphill (gradual incline) finish. I was in about 12th position when we started the descent and when we hit the hill, I attempted a move up the right hand gutter but was blocked shortly after my move and I stayed in this blocked position up until we made the left hand turn to the finish line. A guy from Low Country Volkswagen out of Charleston jumped and I got his wheel only to hear the motorcycle ref yell - "Center Line Rule Is Still In Effect!" at which point I moved right and once again got blocked in. I finally got a hole at about 200M from the finish at which point the sprint had already started. I was able to pick off 5 riders - including my buddy, and finished just out of the top 10 with 11th place. My buddy finished 14th - Congrats Jeff!

All in all, it was a great race and I'm pleased with my results and fitness, especially at this point in the season. Positioning cost me a podium finish or at least a top 5 but to echo the words from my coach - Dave Morris, this race was not about results, but about getting in a decent workout and brushing up on bike handling skills. The podium finishes will come later in the season.