There was a 3K Time trial before this race - you read about that in my blog.

This was a 4 lap race. Right out of the chute one guy tried to bust it open but we let him go and the peleton settled into a nice easy pace of 22-24 mph.

I had two guys in my age group in front of me - one leading the pack the other 4th wheel with me stuck to his wheel. I wanted a podium finish and I was out to make it happen.

Doug - the guy leading the peleton and slowly reeling in the lone break away guy - is about 6-6 and 250 pounds. He was a big boy. We were all comfortable letting him lead.

I don't think I have ever freewheeled that much is a race ever. I thought often of trying to force a break but was afraid of blowing up and finishing off the podium. So I stuck to the plan - find a wheel and hang onto it.

Lap 1,2,3,4 and nothing changed up front. We had reeled Mr. Breakaway in before the first 1/4 of lap one. You could feel the tension building as we got closer to the finish. When was the party going to start?!

I had Doug pegged to be a great sprinter (he knocked me off the podium on the 3K time trial) and I thought I had the point picked at which he would make his move. Problem was something happened first.

Mr. Breakaway came wheeling by with a couple of guys on his wheel. In a split second I knew I had to jump with them. The party was beginning.

Our group of 4 blasted past Doug and every one behind him jump on with us. At this point the pace was upped and I knew the last 1 and a half was going to be hard core.

The is a small valley about a mile out and Doug come blasting by me on the down hill. Crap - did I just lose the podium. Get in there! went screaming through my head.

I zipped past him on the up hill side and then the sprint was on. I had rode in my small ring the whole race and was starting to spin out. I jambed it into the big, dropped a couple gears and then went hells bells. At this point I had no idea who was in front of me, behind me, how fast I was going - I was just pouring everything I had into the pedals. When I crossed the line I finally knew what it felt like to finish in contention.



Not a dang thing - this was about as perfect as it could be.

I did a little cool down spin out of town. My buddy Don rolled up and told me he won the whole thing by about 1.5 inches! A few more people rolled into the cool down and I found out I finished 4th. Doug and and other guy said they were working like dogs to catch me but just couldn't get there.

During the awards ceremony I discovered I was only 2 secs off the winning pace. I had never been happier


My physical limitations. I need to work on my sprint more


This race is now a must for me each year!