Piece of Cake Road Race - Woodland, Wa (First Podium…if there were actually a podium)

First let me say this…I am sick of winter. I am ready for warm weather. Trying to warm up in 32 degree weather sucks. I went back to my trainer routine before the race this week. I like it better, I am able to control the speed and intensity much better. I spent 30 minutes spinning at different effort levels. My legs felt really good all morning.

I was very excited for this race for a couple of reasons. First, I would have a bunch of teammates. Four to be exact. This opens up a world of possibilities in road racing. In my opinion it makes racing more fun. We decided before the race to have a couple of guys attack around the 2nd lap. Myself and another guy were going to go to the front of the peloton and block while 2 other guys were attacking.  If they were to get caught, we would immediately counter-attack. This would have worked great if the peloton allowed the first break to go. But, they did not. So our plans were foiled. It was fun trying to mix it up though.
The second reason I was really excited for this race was the course profile…It was pancake flat. This is perfect for guys like me. I kind of figured this would end in a pack sprint. Not that I am a world class sprinter or anything, but I do have decent strength. So I thought I would do well in a big sprint.

Most of the race was pretty slow. I tried to stay toward the front of the pack. Moving around in a 50 rider pack on narrow roads is very difficult. I got caught in the middle of the pack a couple of times. There was a lot of bumping and near wrecks. In fact I almost took out one of my teammates. I didn't think anyone was on my left; I started to move over and ran right into him. Luckily we both stayed up.

With about 5k left, I started working my way up the front of the pack for the sprint. I had one teammate in front of me for a lead out. A lead out is a tactic where one rider rides really hard allowing the following rider to draft and sling shot around him in the closing sprint. So at about 2k my teammate Mike started drilling it. He took me right to the front of the pack. Where a group of 5 or 6 guys jumped off the front. At about 200 meters I came around Mike and started to sprint. I closed the gap on the group in front of us and passed some of them. I ended up crossing the line in 3rd place. It was an amazing race. I am very happy with the result. I am so proud of our team. Another one of my teammates finished 4th and we had another guy in the top 15. It was a great day for Capitol Velo! With this finish I have enough points to upgrade to category 4. Now the races get longer and faster. Its going to be a great summer!