I've been involved with bikes most of my life. My mom brags that I began riding a two wheeler without training wheels at the age of two. Not sure how true that story is but regardless, I've been on 2 wheels for a long time. Like all kids, that freedom of being on a bike became somewhat diminished at the age of 16 when I obtained my drivers license. Fortunately for me, I was only away from the bike for a few years, rediscovering cycling in the form of a mountain bike through a coworker of mine at the time named Tom Cartwright. I credit Rick Parr for getting me into road cycling, but it was Tom who got me back on a bike. That's why it was nice to hear he was getting back into road racing again after a few years away from the scene and would be suiting up in the black and yellow. Today, Tom made his debut at the third of 4 races in the Race at the Lakes series hosted by the Summit Freewheelers/Allied Decals. Unfortunately his race didn't go as he had planned, but in time I'm sure it will.
Stark Velo would be well represented in the Cat 4 field with Tom, Marshall Leininger, Tim House, Jim Flesher, Mike Schiltz, Matt Turi, Carl Peshoff and myself. My plan for the day was to sit protected in the field, keep my position and wait for the sprint at the finish. I decided that there was no way that a group would get away so I wasn't going to spend my energy chasing someone who couldn't stay out there all day. I'll admit I got a little nervous when a group of 6 or 7 riders went away on lap one. We had Matt Turi representing us so I was content to stick with my race plan and sit in the field to see what happened. Normally, I would think that a group that large has a chance of staying away, but not on such a windy day and not when it happens on the first lap. Sure enough, within two laps we were all back together. There were several attacks but like all attacks in the first two races, nothing would end up sticking. I was feeling confident that I had made the right decision today to sit in and wait. Normally I'm not content to sit in and be pack fill, but my legs were feeling surprisingly good and I thought if I could get good position at the finale, I might have a chance for a decent finish today.
Going up the last 'climb' of the day, the pace was really motoring. My legs were feeling great at this point and I was telling myself that I can endure anything for the last two minutes of the race. Coming down the backside of the hill things got really squirrelly as everyone was fighting for position. It's at this point when my plans for the day were cashed in. As I was moving up the side, a rider didn't hold his line came into me and forced me off the side of the road. I was able to safely get back on the road, but only after the field all got by ad I didn't want to jeopardize someone else's race just because someone ruined mine. I was a little upset at this point and decided that I would give it all I had to salvage the race. I think I finished somewhere mid-field for the mass sprint. After several minutes (ok, it was actually an hour or so) of being ticked about this, I got over it as its just part of racing. I'm sure this guy is a good guy and I'll make the assumption he was unaware of his surroundings. Next week though, I'll make sure he stays behind me.
brian
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