- Knights Ferry RR
- February 4, 2012
- Team mates- John L, Chris G, Roy T, Ken
- Other team mates racing- John B, Chris M
- Results: 13th
- Category- Elite 5
- Field -48
John L, Chris G and I decided to carpool to the race. With none of us ever participating in a road race before we all a little nervous/excited and this made for a fun car ride. We were happy to see our teammates Roy, John B, Ken and Chris before the race started.
After taking care of the pre race stuff the cat 5 guys made our way to the start line. The race started out nice and slow which trust me I wasn’t complaining about. During this part of the race John, Chris and Roy where towards the front of the race while Ken and I were hanging back. After a few miles the race speed picked up and the first turn around was upon us. I found out that we were turning around because of all the chaos in front of me, soon enough I was shoulder to shoulder with a guy as we helped each other around the cone in the middle of the road. After the first turn around the increased pace continued and I managed to get about two wheels behind Roy, John and Chris. Ken at this point was still hanging towards the back of the pack. We started to come across some rollers and this is where Roy who was hammering in the front all morning started to fall back. Eventually we came across the finish line which was on a slight incline, and shortly after we made our way to the second turn around which went much smoother then the first one. Once we passed the finish line and some of the rollers on the return of our first lap I looked back and found that the group of 48 was narrowed down to about 25 or so riders. I had about four or five guys behind me and let Chris know that our group had dropped a bunch of riders. John and Chris were rotating near the front, and maintained a position 6 or 7 wheels back. At some point our group of riders passed up two groups of cat 4 riders who had started 10 minutes before us. During the catch confusion accrued which let two guys break free. Our group of 25 slowly made its way down to about 16 or so riders during the second lap, but this time it was Chris and I sitting in the very last two spots. We were flying and my legs were dying. As we approached the finish and I had done my share of yo yoing off the back and politely asking some of the riders if they would push me to the finish. Everyone towards the back of the group seemed to just a worn out as myself and was not willing to push me to the finish. We started going over some rollers and this is where our group started to get spread out. The group was starting to gap Chris and I when I took advantage of a descent and told Chris to hop on my wheel. John hung in there with a group of at least 4 and Chris and I had found a second wind. Despite being behind a bunch of riders Chris and I were approaching two other riders. I was pretty determined to catch these guys and was making up ground on them until I got a horrible cramp in my right calf. At this point I was trying to get some water and next thing I know I am near the edge of the road. I was starting to gather myself when I heard this voice “come on lets go!” and felt this godly like push from behind. After the push and the slowing of the pace there was no way we were going to catch the two guys ahead of us. Now we had to focus on not getting caught by the two guys behind us. At this moment I started focusing on using every muscle except my right calf to get to the finish. The last few miles of the race felt like an eternity which I loved about the race. The struggle to the line was great. Chris and I managed to hold our spots and got 13th and 14th despite yo yoing off the back of a group of 16 or so riders. John was able to grab an 8th place finish which was great and one of the two riders that broke away was able to stay off the front and grabbed first. I had a lot of fun during my first road race and having teammates there with me defiantly made for a better day on the bicycle.
Geno Uliana