18 years of riding later... My first race!

[TheLetterJ]

Sooo... after several failed attempts to get started racing (races cancelled, lack of $$$, schedule conflicts, etc.) I FINALLY RACED THE GASGAS! Every new years day, our local club hosts a race at Pozo, I have ridden sweep for this event before and I ride the area regularly so what better place to start? This years format had us leaving the start line in pairs in 10 second intervals and running as many ~15 mile laps as we could before they closed the check at 2 hours.

I started 21 out of 79 and only stopped one time near the end of my second lap to check on a fallen rider (he was fine, just got the wind knocked out of him.) I got lapped by the race leader (AA rider) at about the same place on my 3rd lap and I figured that I was done as I came into my 3rd check, but the clock was still running so they slapped me on my butt and sent me off on a 4th lap... I was not expecting that!

It turns out that I was the last rider through before they closed the check and I was spent! I was seated more than standing on my last lap which really beat me up and dropped my pace way down, but I kept going anyway. I started with the goal of "don't come in last" and I ended up with a 25th place finish which made me the last rider to place in "A" class (last rider to complete 4 laps) with only the top 2 AA guys completing 5. Most people only did 2. All in all, I'm fairly happy with my results... not bad for an overweight 31 year old with 2 false hips on a 14 year old bike!

I'll try to post a couple pics later.