Once again I'll put in a race report, just in case anyone wants some info on local cycling races. Of course, the way race organization for cycling here in FL has been going, I'd be hugely surprised if this race was held again in the same location or the same time. :)

I raced the Jacksonville RR this weekend; 5 laps of a 7 mile course for the Cat 5 35+. Executive summary: Pffft. 35 mile group ride with a sprint at the end.

The course was flat, nice pavement, no super sharp turns..and everyone pretty much sat in a bunch for the whole race. It got boring after a while. We had a few attacks early on, but nothing was staying away, and we just settled in. On the last lap, I made a pretty hard effort to break away with 2 or 3 other guys, but it didn't stick. The course just wasn't hard enough to separate anyone out without a lot more attacks.

I had already decided that I would do one last attack near the end, if we were still in a bunch, rather than sit in for the sprint. There was an overpass incline about 1/2 mile from the finish, then a downhill and right turn to the line. I took a hard shot at it going up the incline, and had perhaps 100 yards at the top, solo. I did my best Cancellara imitation and tried to hold them off down the line. Nope. I got caught just at the turn and ended up 20th across the line after burning my matches in the break effort. We averaged 25.xx mph for the race, but it seemed a lot slower.

All in all, a good but frustrating race. After the last race where I sat in and sprinted for 10th (woohoo) I wanted to go for broke, and I'm satisfied that at least I did that. If that incline had been 200 yards closer to the finish I might've made it.