Marty RR

I'm planning on doing it. 48 miles. Riding on your new tri bike?

Are you wondering whether you should race Cannon or Marty, or how to best race Marty? If you're planning on racing a TT bike, your only choice is Cannon. You cannot race a "TT"-style bike w/ aero bars/extensions in a mass-start road race regardless of category (including citizens per USAC rules).

My advice is to just give it a go. You may be surprised. As a former (and I guess still) multisport athlete-now-turned-roadie, road races are a blast and consistent participation in them will make you a faster and more competent rider.

You'll be racing the WCat4 group. Note that my perspective comes from the men's field, so it's possible there are some differences. That being said, there will likely be some fast ladies, but there will be slow ones too. Every race is a little different, and there's all sorts of advice for a newbie RR. Here is just some:

Regardless of what time of rider you are, start up in the front 1/3 and try to hold on to the lead pack for as long as you can. If the pace is too much, so be it. Drop off the field. You may find a couple other wheels to hang with along the way. But whatever you do, DON'T hang your head. Virtually every rider new to RR gets smacked at least somewhere along the way (me included), so don't think of it as a judge of your overall cycling ability.

Leave the PT or Garmin at home, or at least don't stare at it during the race (analyze metrics after the race is over if at all). Road racing isn't about avg power/hr; it's about surges and tactics. This is where most of the multisport athletes get thumped. We're so used to staying w/in a specific power band for periods of time; we rarely are effectively conditioned at the "surge" and tactical riding found in RRs. Be ready to redline for periods of time, and then cruise at damn near recovery pace for others. You'll need to find a new layer of pain when times get tough, but don't get greedy and overzealous when the ride pace slackens. Very very very few races are won by someone TT'ing away from the field...

The gaps rarely ever form on the straights. The gaps will happen on the hills, so whatever you can do to stay w/in striking distance of the lead riders during the hilly stretches will likely dictate how you finish in the field. If you really are feeling strong and stack up well against the field, if you are going to attack, do it AT the top of a hill or AFTER a long hard effort. Most riders go in to recovery mode after long or hard climbs. That's when you can split the field the best (but keep in mind, that means that YOU must not only have some gas in the tank after the 1st effort but also have enough left to build a gap).

Brush up on some of the USAC rules too, especially the center-line rule, which will be in effect.

So, in a nutshell. DO IT! You will have fun. You will learn a lot. Plus, beer really does taste better after a road race...

Finished it with that wicked wind coming out SW. No rain. Fighting the headwind and crosswind 2/3 of the course. Just ridiculous...but that's MN in April for ya.

Sounds like you must have raced in the afternoon.  The majority of the time during the morning races it was at least drizzling.  Glad I wasn't racing then.