Finally! The first race of the season. Here's a recap.
Troy, Gene and Pete journeyed north to the cycling mecca that is Climbing Hill, Iowa. Sioux City Velo resurrected this race. The actual town of Climbing Hill was so small, it didn't even register on Troy's GPS system. We drove right through it. After 5 miles or so, we figured that cluster of buildings was the town.
It was aptly names, tho, for the beastly hill to the west of town. You could see the monster taunting you from the start line, about a mile west out of town. Two-level devil; first part steep and the second part steeper. Finish line at the top, nacherly.
The "A" race (Cats 1,2,3) took off before us. The "B" race lined up with 72 starters. Fabulous, I tell you. And not just old geezers like me, but young bucks like Troy, Gene and 20 and 30 yr olds. Not many toads either. I was scrutinizing the racers as we all warmed up, hoping to find some fat dudes I could beat.
Race was 44 miles. Two laps around the country. Three times up the "Climbing Hill." I was determined to stay up front and not miss out on any serious breaks. Turns out there were never any serious attacks, rather it was a race of attrition. Gene had some mechanical issues with his new Tommasini-Campagnolo steed. Or maybe it was human error? Now that he has gear shifting to deal with? Troy hung tight until the second half of the 2nd lap. The pace up front was a hard, steady tempo, so Troy is just a whisker away from hanging up front the whole race.
Two fellas, one from USAF Academy (Justin) and one from Team Mob, seemed content to do most the pulling. I took a couple of turns at the front, but wanted to save energy for the finale. We turned the last corner about 7 miles to finish and I had a chance to look back and see the warriors behind me. I was surprised to see the 72 riders down to about 15. Support vehicles were right behind us, so I knew we had some decent gap on the folks who got spit out behind.
Resisted the urge to "time trial" in from about 5 miles away. Didn't think the strongmen up front would let me get away. But, I was feeling good and hadn't been pressed to this point. Stuck with the group until we hit the bottom of the 1/2 mile climb to the finish. That's where the serious attacks started. Matched all the guys trying to get away until it was down to me and Dan Ertz of the Bike Way. He was faster and took the prize. I was the first-place loser. Oh, well. Better luck next time.
We had a great time. Weather was un-beevable! Looking forward to more tiger-striped adventures soon. Thanks Troy and Gene for the fireworks. You guys are GRRRREAT! Namaste!
