I guess my blogs have been more on the negative side but it has everything to do with my results and how poor they have been. I guess no one said racing would be easy but I don’t feel it’s been that hard. I just have not done well at all. Missed opportunities and bad timing as well as flat-out poor fitness has put me in a place where I do not want to be. I am not comfortable being a sub-par racer and right now I can only blame me. My last result of 17th place is a testament to my lack of fitness as well as bad timing. I need to be able to hold on on the climbs and get into position at the finish. Blvd Road Race was everything you could want in a road race. From a long climb to a smooth descent, wide lanes to observant officials, the course was perfect.
We took off a little behind schedule but I got the pace started in a hurry. I took off from the start I didn’t want to get caught up in the early race jitters and I knew I was not going to perform well so I decided to go out and have some fun. The problem was that instead of letting the pack go passed me I had that urge to chase so I grabbed a wheel and followed to the best of my ability. We rolled over the first cattle guard and I heard someone puncture. Jokingly I shouted ATTACK!!! someone looked over at me and said “well you got what you asked for.” I was able to hold on till the main climb where I was dropped. Nick who also rides for ShoAir came up and helped me out, more than I can thank him. He’s helped me out twice this year and I would like nothing more than to keep having him around when times get hard. On the descent I did my thing and gained on a splitting field. I found a small pack of fellow cyclist who had also been left for dead in the hills of San Diego. We joined together and worked as a group till the descent where again I did my thing and took off.
It never happened for me, I was able to catch a few stray riders but never the group. I finished in a fuzzy wobble of an uphill sprint. I had no idea where I had placed, hell I didn’t even know where I was at the time. After about 5 mins of dry-heaving and coughing later I was able to myself in order.
On a side note, I want to say that the only major complaint of the entire race was the wait for the results. It was over an hour and a half and still no results for cat 5. I left before they were posted and even though I didn’t place well at 17th I still felt I should be told how crappy I did in a reasonable time.
RED TROLLEY
I can sum this one up in one photo.
Notice the guy behind me almost laughing at me as if he knows how much unnecessary pain I’m in. I was way too sick to have raced but that’s over now and I can look forward to better finishes and just feeling better in general.
ohmannuel 