May I mail it in next time, please?

Today was my Masters Road Race Championship. It was 9 laps of a 5(?) mile circuit in a nice park in Louisville with lots of twisty turnies and up and downs, and rode more like a crit than a road race. With my bum shoulder and the long day yesterday, I felt awful when I had to wake up at 6 a.m. after not quite enough sleep.

Anyway, we made our way over to the course with plenty of time, and after changing etc etc I tried to spin around on my bike and get a feel for the finishing climb. Hmm, I guess I really did go hard yesterday, because someone had stolen my legs and replaced them with lead-filled prosthetics. The nerve!

My only goals for the race were to stay upright and with the main group. I decided instinct needed to guide me for anything beyond that. It didn’t take long for me to know I wouldn’t be a contenda for the starz and barz… firstly, it pained me enormously to stand while going uphill, and it was an uphill finish. Secondly, because of the aforementioned lead filled legs. Oh, and the whole lack of fitness thing – painfully obvious on day 2 of racing. When you realize things like that, it makes it hard to summon energy to do anything spectacular, like help out fellow Southeasterners in the group, or go on suicide solo attacks, or do anything but ride passively along, reacting to events rather than being proactive.

Eventually the field whittled down to 7 of us, and I thought “hey, I only have to beat two people to get on the podium!” I could do that. Just sit on 5th place and let them lead me into the finish. But, when the finish came, and I stood up and felt the awful stabbing feeling in my arm and shoulder, I just sat back down and let the sprint go rather than deal with any more pain. ProTour rider I am not! (in reference to all those Pros who get up and finish races with broken collarbones and wrists and whatever else…) So, 7th it was, and I was secretly kinda glad because then I didn’t have to wait for the podium ceremony and watch someone else get a striped jersey.
A blissful day of rest tomorrow followed by the Tandem Road Race on Thursday afternoon – that is going to be crazy (and crazy fun)! Looks like we might have quite a few tandems on the course at that time and dang, that is going to be one heck of a sight… not to mention challenge.