I raced my bike at Portland International Raceway for the first time last night.

There’s a Tuesday night series that runs from April all the way through August.  It’s a completely different type of racing than many road races or criteriums.  Since it’s on a closed track, it’s completely open roads that are the equivalent of 2-5 lanes wide depending on the section of the course.  The pavement is as smooth as it comes, and the corners are all gradual enough that you never have to slow going into them.  This makes for an incredibly fast, fun race.

Having 80 degree weather in April resulting in more than 100 people showing up in your field makes things even more interesting.  It was the largest field I’ve ever raced in, and having that many people on an open road makes it hard to get to the front of the race, and harder to stay there.  My plan was to go and check the race out and get in a good workout without worrying about my overall placing, and I did just that.  I attacked off the front of the race on my own several times, sprinted a couple times, chased down one break, and overall got in some nice interval training while maintaining a high intensity level the entire race.  I went for the first two of three hot spots and just missed out on both.  I attacked the field with a quarter of a lap to go and tried to go solo, but got reeled in with about 200 yards to go.  The second one a teammate had gone solo off the front and was going to be pulled back in, so I decided to sprint for it.  I probably went a hair early and had the lead until about 100 meters to go when someone came around me on the left at a pace I couldn’t catch.

Our race was 12 two mile laps, and we finished in about 52 minutes.  That’s about a 26 – 27MPH average, which is easily the fastest race I’ve ever been in.  In the last lap I was feeling good about moving to the front and the pace was high with things strung out at the front.  Then with less than half a lap to go, the pace slowed and everyone bunched up at the front.  I never found a good way to get myself un-boxed, and didn’t have a chance to contest the sprint.  I rolled in right in the middle of the pack to take 40th of 102.  Fun times!

EDIT: Here’s a good shot of me sardined right in the middle front of the field.

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