With all the biking I do you might think that I had tried a road race by now. We'' you'd be wrong. The Tour De Lovell seemed like a great event to try it out. Non-sanctioned, home town race with plenty of strong riders to make it a challenge.
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| Do I look nervous? Maybe a bit. Riding in a pack can be a little dangerous. |
It turns out my nervousness was founded. A few miles into the race there was the crunching of carbon and bones as a dozen or so riders went down in a heap. I was riding in the same group but escaped the crash by riding over the median. Few. At this point I chased down the lead pack in an attempt to hold on. The pack dwindled from 12ish to 5. Then 4. I felt bad for the guy that got dropped because I know the feeling. In fact, I got to experience the feeling about 30-45 seconds later and only about 8 miles into the race.
I proceeded to ride the rest of the race in exactly the hardest way to ride a road race. Solo! I thought of dropping back to find a pack to conserve energy riding into the slight headwind on the way back but decided to tough it out.
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| This is the group I was not in. |
Coming up to one of the last turns there were 3 people directing traffic but nobody telling me that it was actually the turn. I slowed, there were no arrows on the road and nobody pointed so I went straight. WRONG. I did get grumpy with those particular volunteers. I was asking which way and nobody bothered to point. Quickly turned around and managed to maintain 4th!
Other than my grumpiness at the turn the race was well run and I'll probably try to do it again. This time I will know where the course goes.
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This is my excited face.
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| The podium shots weren't that exciting. |
I even managed to pick up a KOM which was unexpected. Probably lead to my legs blowing up and my departure from the pack. Oh Well.
Obligatory Relive video: https://www.relive.cc/view/1130086586
