Beautiful day for a race! I lined up in the silver section hoping to hit 5 hours or less. I was feeling good at the beginning, so I rode fast and ended up with a fast group of guys running a 25 mph average. The pulls were brutal, but I managed to stick with them for the first 35 miles. Once we started going up hill on Shea me and another guy dropped off. I was spent at that point. He pulled away from me with another group. It was time for me to ride my own pace. It's easy to get caught up with the big dogs thinking you can hang. From past experience I new I had to ride my own rac e at this point, which I did for the next 20 miles or so. I floated in and out of groups unitl Usery Pass. Half way up Usery Pass I realized that my hard work for the first 35 miles might land me in the gold group for the finish. I began to push harder despite the significant hints of leg cramps. I stopped at two rest stops before Usery and had a lot of bananas plus the one I brought with me. They our my saviour. My second saviour would be the two tandem riders I hooked up with on the down hill of Usery. We were flying down at 35 mph. Only a few others latched on, I was surprised. Despite the cramps I was getting in the last 6-8 miles I raced to the finish at 3:42:31, finishing just under the gold cut off at 3:45.

Work on hills

HILLS


This was a really good race overall. I did well and felt I took the opportunity to push myself significantly. I am a cyclist at heart. Pace lines are an incredible experience. These are the type of races that reveal my AT levels.