5/22 Bryan Park training race

May 22, 2007

22 laps, roughly 18 miles

First lap was faster than I'd have expected being the first of the BP races for the year, especially since we are running it in the opposite direction of the past 2 years. No incidents, everyone made the first lap just fiiine...

I was still feeling the effects of Sunday's MTB race, and not feeling that great in the first few laps. I didn't get a very good warm-up, either- I usually ride from home to the race, and get in a good 35-40 minutes of riding before the race. Last night, I got there in the car, changed, registered, rode about 10-15 minutes, and hit the start line (in the back, at that.)

After about 5-6 laps I started feeling better, and had moved up a little. At about 7-8 laps in, a 2-man break had formed, in which my team was not represented. I bridged, Shawn fell off pretty quickly after I caught them, but Tim and I maintained our lead for about a lap before being caught. It was a good opener for my legs, if nothing else.

I've decided that, as training races, I'm going to blow myself out of the water in every one of these races, until I get in the right breakaway- one that lasts. They're training races. They're for training, right?

About 3-4 laps later I'm chasing another guy going up the road, and the race comes back together quickly. I'm sore, but my legs seem to have some jump.

With about 7 to go, there are two guys up the road. I can't see that one of them is my teammate, Jeff. He's not wearing his team shorts, and that's all I have to go on. Upon seeing him in the top turn, I realise I am chasing down a teammate, and sit up. I get back into the field only to have a guy from UVA start a chase. I go after him, and sit on his wheel for about 4 laps while he's pulling me along. As soon as we're reeled in, another guy goes, and I go after him, too. We're reeled in almost immediately.

"Grouppo compatto" with a lap to go. We catch Jeff right before the line, on a bell-lap prime, that nobody even heard, known as the Gambler's Prime (pronounced "preem"- basically a one-lap race within a race, announced at the start of that lap, usually with a bell). Jeff sits up, I pass UVA dude, and win the prime. I won this CD someone had given to the official for the prime. It's a screamo-metal compilation or something. Yeah. We'll see if that ever gets a listen.

Anyway- I consider this race a success. I did a LOT of work, felt pretty good doing it, and Jeff won the race with a good team leadout (that I wasn't a part of). My result wasn't anything to speak of, but I'd done enough by the end to be toast before the sprint...