First Race Back...

I raced in Union City on Sunday. It was kind of a spur of the moment decision. My main goal for the 68 mile State Championship RR was to finish with the pack. The terrain was rolling with a couple of decent hills but nothing too tough. The whole team was up there with just me and Drew racing in the Cat 4/5 under 35 years old race. My longest ride since the injury has been a couple of metric centuries that I have done at a moderate to hard pace... could I go at race pace for longer than that at this point in my training... would my race pace even keep me on the back of the pack for 70 miles? These were the questions in my head going into Sunday...

I raced hard. I felt like I could throw up from the effort for most of the 2 hour and 50 minutes that we were on the course... but that did not keep me from attacking once and spending a fair amount of time on the front. At around 40 miles into the ride, I had convinced myself that I could win the race. By 60 miles in, I had realized that I may need a ride from the wheel truck back to my car. My legs went, but I never quit fighting and achieved my goal... I finished with the pack (which had dwindled from 75 folks to around 25-30 folks by the end) and no breakaways stayed out.

I felt very excited about this race but I was worked over. I was sore all day yesterday (the race was Sunday) and felt a little tired at Tuesday Worlds tonight. It felt great to be back with the team and back competing again, but it is strange to ride in a race that you don't think you have the chops to win. I hope that my goals will be different in a few weeks when we head to La Grange (don't let the "La" fool you... we are not talking about Italy)...