6:30 comes early when you have been tossing and turning all night anxiously. Finally it was time to see if all the hard work and weight loss would make me as fast as the “little” guys. My first bike race – the Cherry Pie Road Race. I was really excited. Got out of bed, ate my usual oatmeal and toast with peanut butter. Loaded the bike and all my gear, which since I am an obsessive compulsive included 2 of everything, just in case.

We roll into the staging area way early (another great OCD trait). Steff had handled all the directions perfectly. In fact she was perfect all day. Pinning my numbers on while I was spinning on my trainer. Dealing with my mood swings…and nerves. I don’t think I could have done it without her.

So after spinning on the trainer for 30 mins, it was time do some harder efforts. So I rode around the course a bit. Chatted with some teammates, and headed to the staging area.

Finally the time came to line up. All of the Category 5 guys bunch around, trying to get to the front to avoid the one guy that cannot get into his pedal. There is always one guy that cannot clip in. I was praying I would not be that guy today!

So we take off in what’s called a neutral roll out. Where no one can race until we reach a designated point. Lots of chatting in the peloton, everyone is laughing and having a great time. Every now and then someone would yell “Slow Down” or “Slowing”. After a couple of miles we turn left and the race begins. Immediately the pace picks up. I try to work my way to the inside so I can stay to the front to avoid any crashes or mechanical issues. I try to focus on keeping my heart rate down. When I am nervous it always shoots up. So I just sit back and relax for a while.

A couple of groups attempted breakaways, way too early in the race. They were chased down easily. I spent most of the day toward the front of the pack. I was trying to stay out of the wind to save my legs. There were lots of teams; unfortunately I didn’t have any teammates in this race. So I had to try to decide what breaks to chase and what breaks to let go.

Eventually the pack caught all the breakaways. With about 2 miles left I was at the front of the pack, felt great. Legs were awesome, then It happened…

I like to call it the “Jimplosion” when I play poker. I lack patience…I start drilling it.  Gap the field by about 15 seconds. Then I realize no way I am going to stay away like this for 2 miles, but instead of sitting up and going back into the pack, I keep hammering. “Pop” that is the sound of me blowing up…

The pack catches me; I am in oxygen debt…I try to get out of the wind to recover. Not enough miles left for me to recover enough to be a factor in the uphill finish. I managed to hang on for a middle pack finish (29th).
I think we will chalk this one up to experience. I had a great time…it was an epic day in every sense of the word. The team had a decent day. I am really fired up for the next race to have more teammates in my category to work with. 

Racing made every single training mile, wearing spandex at 300lbs and getting my ass handed to me by wife worth it!