^WHERE:  Yolo, CA

^{PLACE & TIME:} 

^DISTANCE:

This is an exciting day.  The last time I did a bike road race was in 1997 I think.  The last couple of years I've been working on my road riding.  I did 2 criteriums (which are small bike races) and joined local training group rides.  Today I'm ready.  It's a 42 mile loop, mainly flat and the weather is great.  The best part is that I'm doing it with 5 Victory Velo teammates; Jay, Steve, Kevin Miller, Todd Allington, and my training partner, Lance Loveday.  Kayden Kelley is also here but he's racing with the Cat 3's and we're back with the Cat 5 Masters (Masters means over 35 years old).  Although Lance has enough races under his belt to move to Cat 4, I'm glad he's still with us to give advice.  He says we'll work as a team and stay close to the front and that there won't be any chances to get away, just a pack sprint at the end.

I remember my last experience and cringe at the thought of a pack sprint determining the outcome.  It was in Pescadero, along the coast.  I did well in the hills climbing and with a couple miles to go I crested the last hill in 1^st and descended the winding mountain road towards victory. My advantage is in the long climbs and technical descents. However, with 200m to go, the pack caught me and even though I sprinted for all I was worth, they blew by me like I was standing still.

Today doesn't have any big hills or technical descents.  So I need a plan for doing well in the sprint.  After a 10mi warm-up with my team and a practice run of the final sprint zone, we're off with our group of 50 in a mellow start to this race.  As the motorcycle leads us through the neutral zone we talk about the inspiring landscape of sunflowers all around us here in Yolo County.  Reminiscent of the Tour de France coverage of rainbow colored cyclists in front of a sea of yellow sunflowers.

Now we're racing.  Anything can happen.  I'm psyched up and on "high alert".  I want to be ready to go the instant there's a breakaway.  Or ready to attack the moment the group gets complacent.  The pace is fairly mellow.  But I want there to be many attacks so the pack splits up and gets tired.  This way my meager sprinting tactics will fare better against a smaller worn out pack.  But there are no attacks.  So after 15mi I move near the front, tell Jay my plan, and start attacking the small hills.  Jay is really strong. He goes with me and then continues leading.  But the pack easily catches us each time.  Finally some others attack, too, and it's a hard pace but ½ way through the race we can see that no one falling for it.  The pack is staying together.  Near the summit (all 300 ft of it) the road is rough and suddenly water bottles are bouncing off bikes and rolling through the pack.  Watch it!  That was close.  Thanks, Lord, for not letting anyone crash.

Now it's 11 miles of flat straight road until the final overpass and sprint zone.  After earlier attacks I would go to the rear of the group and recover.  I know I'll need every bit of strength for the end.  My teammates are doing the plan well and staying close and near the front.  I join them some of the time and then go back and hide in the group.

The pace picks up to 27-30mph as we're nearing the grain silos.  This is it.  It's hard to move up in the tight pack.  But openings do appear and I make sure to take advantage of them.  I'm really on high-alert now.  Gotta stay sharp.  Oh..... wrong grain silos.  The group slows down as it realizes the finish is still 5 mi off.

Ok, now the finish is nearing.  The silos mark the turn to the overpass and finish.  Jay, Lance, Todd are in great position.  Steve, Kevin and I are moving up.  The Davis Bike Club guys are working well.  Some of the guys who did most of the pulling are also still showing a lot of strength.  The pack is tight and it's hard to keep from getting pushed back.  We go flying into the turn.  This is it!

During my commutes home from work, there is a rise just like this, where I practice speeding up it and sprinting over the top into a fast tuck to the finish... which is the next stop light.  My plan is the same for this race.  I'll sprint over the top and then go flying towards the finish and hope to be near the front.

But after we make the turn, the pack is everywhere, spreading across the road.  I suddenly remember that this section is ok to cross the double-yellow.  I go faster but it doesn't seem like it compared to the fast group.  I sprint at the top of the overpass but hit a bump and then go around a couple riders.  It just doesn't seem to go as smoothly as I pictured.  And I'm still about 20 back.  But as I reassess the situation I see there is still 300m to go and will give it another shot. 

Meanwhile, Lance, near the front, had a great sprint up to the overpass, leading out Jay, who then took the overall lead at 200m to go.

I see Kevin ahead and jump on his wheel.  I rev up and then pass him on the right.  But riders are slowing everywhere now and I need a clear path to the finish.  I see an opening to the left and dart across many wheels all the way to the left side of the road.  With my tongue hanging out, I go into the best out-of-the-saddle sprint action I've got and cross the line.  In the corner of my eye I see Lance just ahead of me on the far right and count 7^th for him and 8^th for me.  Jay maintained the lead Lance gave him and finished 1^st!  Even with the good finish for me, I still felt like I wanted to do the last 500m over again and again.  I had a picture in my head of my smooth all-out finish but instead it seemed like chaos... changing positions, dodging riders, in and out of sprints.  I guess I'm just realizing you have to do a lot of racing to get that final 500m down.

This type of road racing is interesting.  Unlike the all-out effort throughout a triathlon bike portion, here you enjoy a fairly tame group ride for 40 miles and then ramp up to top speed in an all-out frantic effort to see who is in the right place at the right time and can hold on to finish ahead, but still only seconds from last.  It's very intriguing and makes me want to do this again and again :)

The first thought I have, though, is how thankful I am to the Lord for answering our prayer for a safe race.  Split second adjustments can mean the difference between sailing through the finish and grinding into the pavement.  Unfortunately there were 2 riders in later races that did crash pretty bad.  I pray they are all right and know that I'm fortunate to have Jesus by my side in every race.