Yesterday marked my long ride ever, coming in at approximately 139 miles as a part of the Rapha Gentlemen’s Race. We headed out to the beach (Lincoln City) on Friday evening and stayed in a suite at the Inn at Spanish Head thanks to team president Jim who served as sugar daddy for the evening. [...]
Banana Belt Race #1
Posted By Adam Edgerton on March 1st, 2009
Today was a great day for a bike race – cold, wet, and miserable.
It gets you in the right mental mindset rather quickly when you’ve got spray and mud from the road in your face in the first mile of the race. The race went well and I was really happy to get back to racing. The team had planned to try to get me into a breakaway group in lap 3 of 4, and I saw my moment of opportunity and took it by attacking the field to bridge up to a rider that had gotten away solo. The two of us were joined by three other riders that bridged up, and we had a 5 man break going that at one point got probably 45 seconds ahead of the main field. Unfortunately we eventually got reeled in as is common in Cat 4 racing. I managed to make it over the last big hill with the front group and rolled into the finish near the front of the pack for about a 15th place finish. Not bad considering I’m not a sprinter and I’ve only been back on my bike for a month or so. My legs feel good and I could have gone another lap or two without a problem, but I definitely need to get in a few more intervals to see if I can increase my top power a hair. Overall, I feel pretty happy with my conditioning currently and how the day’s race went.
Among the more notable events on the day was a teammate’s total bike implosion caused by a jammed chain. If you look closely, the chain is mangled, the front derailer is snapped in half, the rear derailer is in pieces, the derailer hanger is bent, spokes are broken… at least he stayed upright.
So what’s the result of 44 miles of riding in the rain on dirty roads look like? Something like this:
It was also great to catch up with some friends from UO, including Chris, who was also filthy.
Tags: banana belt, bike race, Cycling, Haad Lake
Posted in Cycling
Comments 5
March 1st, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Oh no, that looks like Drock’s bike. Bumma.
Nice job today though, I’d be thrilled with 15th after only a month of training for sure!
March 1st, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Nope, not Drock. Drock’s bike lives to see another day.
March 1st, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Nice race, nice result. Glad you got to get in a break early in the season. Sets up your racing mind for later races. Also reminds you that just because you are aggressive and get into a break doesn’t mean you’ll get dropped at the end (like a lot of people think).
Looks like a Cervelo in the pic. Oh man.
March 1st, 2009 at 5:01 pm
Yeah, come to think of it I don’t think I’ve ever been dropped off the back of a race that I attacked off the front in. Today I had enough left to go with the counterattack that occurred when our break was caught, but that was quickly pulled back as well.