Hillsdale Road Race 

I love road racing!  It is such an addicting sport for me.  This last Sunday was the second of 4 races in the George’s Spring series; Hillsdale.  It was a windy day of racing with 6 loops each 5 miles long with a brutal climb at the end of each loop, pictured above.  

Hortense and I arrived late for the race so no warm up for us.  And she also had a flat tire to change as I was leaving to start my race.  It was not a good day of competition for her as she ended up getting another flat in lap 2, ending her race.  So she biked later in the day to at least get some riding in. 

I wanted to test my fitness so I went hard the moment the race started.  This almost totally backfired as I wasn’t feeling so hot after a few minutes.  After going hard and leading the first lap, I backed off and got in the draft for much of the second lap.

Austin attacked on the climb and ended up getting away and holding his lead for the next two laps.  At the beginning of lap number 5 we reeled Austin back into the lead group which was me and 4 or 5 Lactic Acid Cycling guys. 

We kept a pretty good pace the last two laps but nobody had any significant attacks.  Going up the last hill I led the group up and they blew by me about a third of the way up.  

Tactically, it was not a very smart race, but my goal of getting a tremendous work out was definitely achieved and it was a fun day of racing.

Results for Hillsdale 2nd race of George’s Spring Series

Slammer Road Race

The first race in the series was a 2.5 looped course of 40 miles, the Slammer.  I was not aggressive in this race and feeling the effects of a hard 10 mile run and 20 mile ride from the day before.  However, near the last climb and 5 miles before the finish I was ready to attack and see if I could force the issue until the end.  I was leading the group at the start of the climb and geared down as we started gong up….preparing myself for some explosive energy. 

OOOOOps, my chain came off!!!  I got off my bike as the group of 16 riders went by.  I thought my chain was on when I got back on but it quickly dislodged again, I got off again and put it back on and spun the pedal a few times with my hand to make sure it would stay this time.  Well, I still needed that explosive energy.  I red lined it the next 5 miles in a vain attempt to catch the group which was teasing me on the horizon.  I had nothing left the last 200 meters and coasted in about 1:20 behind the lead group.  The last 5 miles was an intense, all-out, test of my fitness and I think those tough miles will pay off later in the year.

results for Slammer