Racing in Macon...

Pinned back on a number this weekend and it felt great. We sponsored our first three stage weekend of bike racing in Macon, Georgia this weekend. There was a downtown prologue... a downtown crit (state championship no less), and a tough RR course in East Macon. A lot of hard work went into it and it came off really well. All the racers seem to have really enjoyed the races. I worked a corner during the prologue since we were a little short volunteers and ended up racing the crit and prologue.

My confidence was a little off going in... my legs have not been great, but I have been working hard lately. The crit was a blast. It was wide open and my legs were good. I worked in the top 5-7 guys all day and brought back a number of breaks so that Drew could have a chance at the State Championship. I knew he was catting up after this race, so I wanted to help him out if I could... especially with my shaky confidence. I didn't contest the sprint and finished midpack.

The RR was a sufferfest. Tough climbs and nonstop rollers and big heat. I figured that attrition alone would dwindle down the field and had serious doubts if I could hang with the front group. Turns out that I had great legs... the group fractured in half in the first 15 miles and dwindled down from there. I felt like I might throw up for the second half of the race, but hung in there. Drew broke away with three others after a fair setup effort by me. I then proceeded to gum up any chase efforts while Drew and the other two guys dropped the fourth. He won the race and I finished 11th out of a chase group (selection) of 12 or so. I was very pleased. You cannot race to win when you have no confidence and so I am glad to truly believe that I have the legs to win for the rest of this year.

I plan to step up the racing for the rest of the year and try to Cat up to 3 in the offseason...