Regarding the East canyon road race

My goal: Start a race. Mission accomplished.

Here are some pictures of the race team
http://www.zazoosh.com/photos/130010073 - Steve M, Stephen H
http://www.zazoosh.com/photos/130030245 - Steve M
http://www.zazoosh.com/photos/130030246 - Steve M
http://www.zazoosh.com/photos/130030247 - Steve M
http://www.zazoosh.com/photos/130030250 - Stephen H
http://www.zazoosh.com/photos/130010183 - Stephen H

Here are some pictures of me posing as a racer - but really out for a club ride
http://www.zazoosh.com/photos/130030083
http://www.zazoosh.com/photos/130030084
http://www.zazoosh.com/photos/130010027
http://www.zazoosh.com/photos/130030464
http://www.zazoosh.com/photos/130030465

The plan was to ride with Steve M and Stephen H. Didn't happen cause I never saw them at the start. Turns out they had a different start time than I did. Lesson learned: The whole team may want to register together.

I secretly thought I could do well climbing and was happy this race had a few decent climbs. First thing I'm told: one of the climbs is taken away; we're not going to Lost Creek. Race starts, goes for a few miles before the only real climb. The pack is lurching, weird tempo. Makes the start of the climb really odd and makes me lose touch of the front group. I don't feel I need to push too hard since I have 50+ miles to go; I'll catch up. Where is this pack of Cat 5 racers going? Bah, there's a slower pack behind me, I'll wait for them. Where's the slower pack at? Good thing this was an out-and- back, otherwise I would have never seen either packs again. At the turnaround point the faster pack was approximately 4 miles in front of me, and I was probably 5-6 miles ahead of the slower pack. I was pretty much on a solo mission. Lesson learned: Maybe try harder to stick with the pack, it may help for the 50+ miles later.

My first criterium

I drive up. Stephen H is in the parking lot. Cool, I won't be alone. Brent W is there but not dressed to ride. He tells me his knee hurts; I think he wanted to watch us guinea pigs before trying it. Stephen and I eventually get to the start line, we discuss the risk of 'people that haven't done this before' and how many of them may be around us. We are not interested in crashing. We just want to try this out.

Turns out I was that person to be scared of. I touched wheels with someone, swerved to stay upright, poor guy to my left almost crashes. I took corners as if I were racing a car or go-kart: momentum is key. Start the turn high, dip into the inside, get out of it scuffing the minimum amount of speed. Great racing technique for most vehicles but not so much for bike racing. I get yelled at cause this is not the way to make turns and I nearly cause a number of crashes. I m sooo glad everyone there was skilled enough to overcome my ignorance. I suck. Lesson learned: don't suck.

One turn to go - Stephen takes the last turn nicely, positions himself to the left of our pack of 8-10, takes off. He said he got beat by one person at the very end of the sprint. From my viewpoint he had a great sprint. Well done.

This experience my friends, is a RUSH. It's a 30 minute violent effort filled with sprints - partly because of the way people slow down at each turn and stand on it as they get out of a turn, partly because some people try to sprint out the front. Lessons learned: good workout, completely different than a club ride or 60 mile race, will improve my riding overall.