Yes and Not Yes

This past weekend I went to Chattanooga to participate in my first races as a Cat 3. I did alright in the TT, much better than I would have without borrowing Robert’s TT bike. The crit was in a beautiful part of downtown Chattanooga. I started off in the back and stayed there for most of the race. The course was an L-shape with six turns and was extremely fast and it was very difficult for me to work my to the front. There was perhaps only one opportunity for me to get to the front, but that would have required me to attack almost immediately at a turn, something which did not seem like a very safe thing for me to do. Thus I stayed near the back and was constantly sprinting after all the corners due to the yo-yo effect. Though I finished with the field, I was pleased with my effort and a little surprised at how fast we went. We averaged 30 mph for 40 minutes.

The road race was a race that was much more suited to me. One large hill and rolly and windy for the rest of the course. The Cat 3 field had 3 loops of 22 miles each for a total of about 66 miles. Again I started off on the back and was rather impatient for the race to start, which would be at the large hill about halfway through the 22 mile loop.

Up until we got to the hill, I could not tell what was going on. There were a couple of times when the field sped up, most likely to catch a break attempt, but I could not tell what was happening.

We finally got to the hill and there the real race started. I quickly made my way up to the front, threading my way through all the non-climbers. Once at the top, we did not let up and accelerated quickly to the bottom. At the bottom there was a long, flat stretch over a bridge before a right turn. At this point, the cyclists at the front were forming into a line for drafting purposes, leaving lots of room for any rider to get up to the front on the left side. This looked like a great opportunity for me. I could slowly accelerate to the front and then explode as I reached the 3rd rider from the front. From there I would be in a good position to take the turn without breaking and continue on by myself along the hilly course.

My plan worked an no one attempted to follow me for about 30-40 seconds. After that there was a solo rider from Iron Data making an attempt to bridge the gap I had created. I knew I needed him to reach me so we could work together, but I also did not want to slow down too much where the rest of the field would catch up. The Iron Data rider caught up to me fine and then we began our breakaway effort that lasted for 55 miles until the end.

Along the way, we picked up one other rider who had taken off really early in our race and he worked with us for 1 lap until we dropped him on a hill. The largest gap we had was roughly 3 minutes and then it fluctuated between 2 and 2.5 minutes.

The Iron Data rider took first and I took second. This was one of the longest, most difficult efforts I’ve put out in a race. I was impressed with myself and with the Iron Data rider. I was very glad he chose to bridge my gap.

Why do I ride? Why do I race? These are tough questions to answer in any greater detail than just saying “Because it makes me happy” or “Because I’m good at it.” Cycling can be an extremely expensive, time-consuming, and dangerous sport, so it seems like the impetus to go through a such a large amount of trouble must be great.

I remember the time when I was on my mountain bike riding on the road from FPD back to my parent’s house and when a car hit me from behind as I was making a left turn. I probably would have been killed had it not been for my helmet. Now fast-forward a decade and I’m cycling 10-14 hours a week. My mom told me recently she never would have thought I would be racing after being hit by a car.

So why do I race? For now, the simple answer is, “I’m very good at something that only a very small amount of people do.” But beneath this simple answer are two more “sub-categories” if you will. First, I occasionally take pleasure in punishing myself and second, I take pleasure in punishing others. Perhaps those two factors are part of what makes a great cyclist?