state road race

you know, i've never done the category 1/2 state road race. after all these years, today was the first. it's always too long for me. they have been 80+ miles most of the time. i've done 4 masters state road races with pretty good results, but always felt like i should be in the big time race.

hellbender was two laps of a 35 mile course. so for me, the mileage added up. but it's a tough 35 miles, with nary a flat section and one very hard hill. some of the downhills were the most fun i've ever had on my road bike. i'm not sure why i didn't use my brakes like i always do...maybe i was just having too much fun.

anyway, after dragging the whole family down to rolla for this race, making a wrong turn, and being on the edge of being late, the race started late. sigh. but thf got rolling and was in attack mode for the whole stinkin' race. the first lap was thf/bigshark/mesa constantly. i wish i could say i was one of the attackers, but i'm relegated to chasing attacks and filling gaps. i'm just not that guy. my first lap was great, and the family cheered me on as we passed the feed zone at 20+ mph. i only got one bottle, which contributed to my demise about 10 miles from the finish. it wasn't only lack of water...i just blew up. it was a small select crowd, so there were no stragglers, just players. the second lap was chase, chase, chase and the peleton tried to catch nolan and justin. 22 started, 16 finished (i was #16) and it was a harsh last 10 miles for me.

maybe one day i'll get the training in i need for 70+ mile races. right now my training works for crits and mountain bike races, and i don't see how i could possibly put in 4 or 5 hours days on the bike. maybe when eli settles down and the kids are a bit more self-reliant.

who knows? maybe by that time i'll be too old and only doing masters racing anyway.