RHBC Road Race @ Brattonsville SC - Cat 4 - Sunday April 5, 2009

I'd been looking forward to this Sunday since I fell off the front and did a lot of work in the 5 race last year.

No teammates in the race; for me that makes a psychological difference as well as a tactical one. I did however see Scott Webster in the warmup; also a guy named Aaron who works at Bicycles East (though on weekends; never with me). Aaron is wicked fast; I thought he was a 3 or maybe a 2...

The race was SMOKIN from the start. Early on I noticed that we were going 24.7mph which was BELOW our average speed! James Good from Spirited Cyclist was throwing the pain cakes at everyone as he's been doing all season. I burned some matches trying to bridge up to him. No dice - the group always caught us and I probably helped that happen without really intending to. I was in the hurt locker for a lot longer than I'd have liked over the first 15 mi, but I was able to sit in a recover as we approached the steeper hills around mile 25, which I had also targeted as an attack point.

At around that point 2 guys jumped out and got a gap of about 100m. I went with James Good and another guy when they broke to chase them down...barely able to pull through on my turns munching heavily on the suffer buffet. When we caught them, I was gassed and then the whole peloton came over the top of me. Kaboom! I was popped and when the wheel truck went by, I knew my day as a contender was pretty much over.

As is my pattern this season, I decided I was just going to ride at my limit and pick off the stragglers. I chased, rode with one guy for a while, then by myself. I managed to keep going pretty hard keeping my heart rate well up in the 80+% range, so was happy with that effort. In the finish stretch I saw Webster attending to a Spirited guy with the ambulance crew - hopefully he's OK. There were several crashes at the front apparently, so I'm thankful to have avoided those. I hear there was also one in the 5 race, including some of our guys - hope they are OK too...

My primary lesson is that early on, when the pace was being pushed with attacks and surges, I need to trust that almost no one is strong enough to make an attack stick. I burned a lot of energy taking personal responsibility for chasing and bringing back anything that went away early on, and as a result I had nothing when it counted.

Spirited did put their guy across first - a guy named Brent, with James Good leading him out and taking 3rd. Webster said he could have gone maybe 5th or so, but got caught up next to the wreck and ran off the road.

Next on the calendar are some crits in Charleston on the 18th -19th and the Tour de Moore, a 70mi circuit race for ages 30+ it looks like, on the 25th, then Dilworth the following weekend May 2 - not sure which of these I'll be doing except Dilworth, which I definitely plan on.

And now since you've read this far, I will reveal the secret of smooth, aero-friendly race number attachment; it is.... DOUBLE SIDED CARPET TAPE. Get the thin plastic light/medium duty kind; 3/4 wide or so. Wider will work fine; you just don't really need it. Crumple your number then flatten it out. Snip lengths of the tape with scissors to match the respective lengths of all sides of the number plate, and stick to the number on all 4 sides. Peel the adhesive-guard away, flatten out the fabric of the jersey where the number is going, and smooth the number onto your jersey in the appropriate place (and oriented so it will read right-side up!) against something hard so you can press it down securely with your fingernail. I usually pin the corners as well, but this is probably really not necessary. Voila! The number will lay flat against your jersey and not catch the wind to slow you down. Make sure you peel the number off before you wash your jersey afterwards...