A Test Passed

Well, I did my first Tuesday night run to Cleveland for the Westlake Circuit race. There generally are good sized fields here. This week we had almost 50 riders. The main part I like about it is we usually get Paul Martin, the current national champ, and several of the Inferno pros including Jim Baldasare, a former criterium champ as well and 2 or 3 of the bigger amateur teams in that region. I felt good enough to go with alot of the breaks, though halfway through, I decided to hold off since Paul was in one of his moods that day. He'd let a break get up the road so there was a 30 to 60 second split and then go to the front and motor til we went past it. It's a bit depressing when you realize he's just goofing with you. He did get annoyed when after doing a 3 mile or so pull at over 30mph, no one else would follow through. I tried, but without additional help from the 3 other bigger teams there, there wasn't a big reason for me, all by my lonesome to do much more than take a slug at the front and get out of Dodge. It was also fun scolding other riders who are generally stronger than I am, to quit the ass scratching contest and get moving. Nothing like being a cat 1 and having a cat 3 shitmonkey like myself, telling you to start acting like you're racing. The good thing that I came away with was, I could handle going with and working in the breaks, even with the Inferno pros. I was also able to hop from the pack to breaks without too much difficulty either. The best thing was I was using wheels that were definitely NOT the best wheels to be using for a flat fast circuit. They were better suited to climbing, not for rolling on the flats a 30+mph. Unfortunately in the end, I got behind what I thought was one of the best wheels there in a sprint, Dave Chernowski. It was unfortunate because I didn't know he was riding with a broken cleat. One hard jump half a mile from the finish and he pulled his foot out, pinched me into the side and we lost all of our momentum. It was too bad, because I was real comfortable sitting there and if I even got a whiff of the front, I'm pretty sure I could've finished top 3 at least. Things are definitely coming around. This week, I'll be just out riding in the mountains and scouting a couple race courses. Low pressure but lots of up and downs. On the road course there are 2 7+ mile climbs which should give me plenty to think about. Put down the donut, Jay.