Category: 5
Result: Mid-pack

We got out there around 715 am and I was so early that they didn't even have the Cat 5 sign up yet. When they got the sign up, I paid and went straight to the trainer to warm up for the 945am race. I wanted to make sure this wasn't a repeat of the Snelling road race warm up, so I was very relaxed with a lot of time to warm up and stretch.

I was very surprised to see such a large turnout at Land Park. There were cars everywhere and many bikers on trainers warming up. With about 20 mins to the start, I rode off to check out the course. I rode around it once and another guy comes up to me and tells me my number is upside down. I went straight to the referee and asked--she said yes, it was and a really nice woman darted up and offered to change it for me. This was good because the very next minute was the whistle to start. Whew.

The race started off pretty fast. The course didn't have any straightway so we were always leaning, and I found out quickly that it wasn't the best thing to stare at the wheel in front of you because one could easily drift off! There were quite a few attacks and as usual, they were all caught. I was surprised at the number of primes. It seemed like the bells were going off at almost every lap. I found a HUGE guy to ride behind for a few laps, and let me tell you, it REALLY helps to ride behind larger riders. I got a sweet draft and really took advantage of it.

The whole race I found myself never at the back, but always in the middle or front. What seemed like a great race I was having when everyone stopped at the finish line in what looked like to me an end of a prime sprint. It turned out it was the final lap. I was stunned because first of all, I didn't take notice of the lap cards. Being hard of hearing, I'm not going to hear the race announcer declare the number of laps...it was quite shocking to say the least! I went right to the referee and she said the lap cards were right there the whole time. ( my opinion is that the lap cards were VERY hard to see, on a bench and not even high up in the air. In the peloton, you're not going to see those if you're right in the middle! ) Nevertheless, I finished right in the middle of the pack. I still had a lot left in my legs, so I could have contested the sprint..next time!!

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