Check Your Legs Cat 4/Masters "B" Race

I hate racing in bad weather.  I tend not to do well in it, hate wearing lots of clothing, getting all wet, freezing, and eating road sludge from off the wheels in front of me.  I've never done an earlier race than Check Your Legs and even it is almost always miserable weather.  It's a fun race, though, and not too far, so I signed up again this year, expecting that with the mild winter and spring we'd been having so far, it would be better.  Well, the forecast changed any hopes of that, so I prepared for the worst and was pleasantly surprised when the bad weather held off and we had a great day for a race as Andrew said in his post.

Preparing For Battle

I had cautiously optimistic hopes of doing well in this race as I'm fitter this year than last and have always done reasonably well in this race anyway.  In the back of my mind, though, I dreaded getting dropped on the first climb, which was immediately after the start this year, which would've made for a very disappointing solo ride (especially if the weather had been bad).

After the First climb.  That's me in yellow in the lead group.

The "B" Race which included Cat 4 and Masters 45-59 started out relatively peacefully and, although, I was pretty far back going into the first climb, I was able to maneuver through and bridge the gaps that formed to stay with the lead group.  On the second climb, which is very shortly after the first, and much steeper and longer, the group broke up a bit, but I felt good and was able to cruise right across a gap that formed and crest the top with the lead group.

Pat Kapinus, Chuck Rhoades, and myself all together again in the pack.

The first mistake that took place in my opinion was that this group, which had a gap cresting the climb, did not push hard enough, and a large chase group (or 2) caught back up to us.  I'm not sure when they caught us, as I stayed near the front, and didn't see the extent of our reformed pack until going into the climb on the second lap.  I suppose I could've done some harder pulls to try and speed our group up on the first lap, but I likely would've just burned juice and achieved nothing, and at least I got a couple teammates back as Chuck Rhoades and Pat Kapinus rejoined the pack.

Starting the climbs again on the second lap.  Uh oh...see the gaps forming already.  Why are all the RUUD guys behind them...D'OH

My mistake on lap two, however, was starting the climb too far back.  I tried to use the strategy that worked for me on the first lap. Unfortunately, the pace was harder this time, and people were more tired, so a big gap opened up on the first climb, and I got stuck behind some guys for too long.  I then had to burn a lot of fuel to try and bridge, but I was unable to make it to the lead group which got away before the second climb.  On the second climb, I dangled off the back of what was to become the lead chase group, and it was all I could do to hold their wheels after the climb.

We're almost to the top Chuck.  I sure hope I can hold your wheel once we crest.

I did manage to, though, and was glad to have a teammate, Chuck Rhoades, with me in this group.  There were only four of us, plus 1 dropped rider from the A race, who, rightly, made an effort not to really help us much.  The other two guys were desparate to catch the leaders (as we all were), but they were doing what I describe as suicide pulls.  The were accelerating through and surging so hard, that none of us really got any rest at all.  Not to mention that we never really got to recover from the climb.

Wish I had more juice in my legs for this sprint.

Anyway, when we turned on to Rt. 51, the headwinds were brutal, and we were all pretty much toast, so any chances of catching the breakaway had pretty much evaporated.  Then, shortly before the finish, another, slightly larger chase group caught up, and this large pack now cruised to the finish.  Neither Chuck or I reacted much when they went for the sprint.  I think we sort of regret that in hindsight, but, at least speaking for myself, I didn't have much in my legs at that point anyway.

Here's the link to more photos from SKN photography:  Check Your Legs 2012 photos

And, here's the link to the Results:  Check Your legs 2012 Results