Today's race was part of the collegiate racing series here in Colorado, a 40-mile road race at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Although this was the same distance as my race last week, this one was quite a bit different. Last week's race was 5 laps, with about 200' of climbing per lap for a total of about 1,200 feet for the whole race. This week was only 3 laps, but with about 1,200 feet of climbing per lap. It was a pretty brutal race. But seriously the best scenery of any of my races so far. The Air Force Academy is a pretty awesome area, if you ever get a chance to go there. I don't have any photos right now, though. I hope to find some soon.
We had a full contingent of 75 riders in the Cat 4/5 race, so it was pretty crowded. Within the first mile or so, there was a crash right behind me, which thinned out a crowd a little bit. The first third of the lap is rolling hills, and I was able to keep up with the group pretty well. After that was a long flat-to-downhill section and the group was moving really good. We got stretched out a bit, but stayed together for the part. Then came the last third of the lap -- 4 miles of climbing back to the start/finish line. That really broke up the race.
My first time up the climb, I was basically left behind. I was passing a few people, and a few people were passing me. I saw a teammate up ahead, but couldn't reach him. I was alone for the beginning of the second lap, but ended up catching the wheel of another rider during the rollers, and we each took turns pulling, making up some ground on other riders. At the start of the big climb, I told him to just go ahead -- I was beat. But I still managed to hang with him pretty well. After having to slow for a few seconds while we waiting for a herd of deer to cross the road in front of us, we got moving again. Before long, we caught up with another group of 2 or 3 riders, including a teammate of mine. We finished the climb together, picking up another rider or two along the way.
As we started our third lap, the group was pulling away from me, but I caught up with them again. For the next few miles, we worked together pretty well as a group of 6 or 7. We were moving pretty quick, catching and passing riders along the way. Finally, to the base of the final climb again. At this point, we kind of worked together, but a few people tried to get away. I think one or two of us jumped ahead, but not by much. At the end, the group of about 6 of us all finished within about 45 seconds of each other.
Oh, did I mention the snow? Yeah, that's right. It was snowing. Well, for part of the race. It was pretty chilly regardless, and near the top of the climb on every lap, the snow started to come down. It was pretty localized, so didn't affect the whole race, but it was still pretty interesting.
Overall, out of 75 starters, 54 ended up finishing. I came in 29th, about 11 minutes behind first place. But hey, first place was from my team, so that was cool. His name is Jonathan, and he's been tearing it up this season. He started as a Cat 5, moved up to Cat 4 after one race, and has been killing it in the Cat 4 races since then.
I should also point out that the Air Force folks put on a pretty good event. Very well organized, especially compared to some of the other collegiate events I've been to this year.
I don't have any races next weekend, so maybe I'll get a chance to just get in some riding. We'll see. I'll be racing again the weekend after that, on April 19. Today was the end of the collegiate races for me, so my next races will all be run by normal promoters. And most of them have a Cat 45 40+ category, which is cool. I have some high expectations for those races. We'll see.
Food:
- Breakfast: Fruit / protein smoothie
- Lunch: PB&J on a bagel, after my race
- Dinner: meatballs
Exercise:
- USAFA Road Race, 40 miles, 3,600+ feet
- 45 minutes on the elliptical, 4.5 miles
Today's weigh-in: 181.4
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