19 mile course. Hard cross/head wind going out. Bad traffic coming back.
23.6 mph @ 231 watts.
On the back end of the race I had several incidents with traffic and or touring bikes. There was some little bike tour that turned into a park about 2 miles from the turnaround. There was a trailer being pulled by a truck that said "caution cyclists". I had to pass this behemoth on the left (an illegal move on my part) because he was going 12 mph and hogged the right side. This trailer was escorting two cyclists on hybrids. I thought for 2 seconds that it was odd but no worries. Had to stomp the pedals to get back to speed...until...I ended up behind 2 more tourists, yelled "on your left" and of course, they tried to turn left in front of me at the entrance to the park. Had to stomp again to get back up to speed. I thought all was going to be fine until I caught a time trial racer being tailed by a woman in a station wagon. She would not pass him and he was doing maybe 20mph. So I tried to pass her on the right as she was hugging the center line. I couldn't completely pass her because she was tailgating the cyclist so I ended up riding side by side at her passenger door (another stupid move on my part). We came up to an intersection so I backed off figuring she would turn right and kill me. She turned left, I lived, but once again had to stomp to get back to speed and pass the racer in front of me. By now I was toast. In reality, it probably didn't affect me much, but it's a convenient excuse for a bad time. haha.
5th place out of 10 in the 40-49 age group. I won more Heed!
The five races in the last twelve days has taken it's toll (I'm racing tomorrow night too unless the weather is bad) and I am toast. But I've lost 3 pounds in that period.
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