| Registering for the race. The race was sponsored by TBI, a cycling club in the Dallas - Fort Worth area. The guy in the gray shirt was very helpful. The guy in the yellow short was very funny. He gave me some advice when he found out this was my first race ever: "Keep the rubber on the road. You don't want to end up on your back like a roach or turtle or something." Thanks. actually everyone was extremely nice. |
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My Mom! Photographer number 1. Thanks mom! |
| My Sister! Thanks Wendy for going with me and taking pictures! |
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Warming up in the parking lot of Copperas Cove High School. There were about 150 riders total. About 30 minutes before the start of the race people started warming up by circling the lot. There were some folks who brought their stationary trainers so they would not have to warm up around bozos like me. I had already scouted the first 3 mile of the route earlier in the morning on my bike. |
| Pausing during warm up. That is my Uncle Bob's bike I am riding. |
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Staging the race. The race officials asked everyone to form up in the parking lot. There were about 150 cyclists present. Each cyclist is in a category as defined by the USCF, United States Cycling Federation. Category 5 or Cat 5 or just 5 is for people who have done 10 or fewer races. As this was my first race I was cat 5. In the front are the pros, Cat I/II/III. |
| Number 433 in the green and orange shirt. When they official was giving instructions he also announced the route had been changed slightly. The cat 4/5 route (my category) had gone from 49 miles to 54. Great. The map route can be seen here. Instead of cutting the corner on Tablerock road per the old map we were going to take Harmon road all the way to FM580 and back down CR 1113. The really windy parts were CR 1113 on the way out and all the way from Rumley to past Izoro. |
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Waiting for the race to start. I look like I am about to throw up. It was VERY windy, but warm. About 60 degrees. I think I have too much body fat, because I was not cold at all, but look at the other riders. Most of the other riders have on arm warmers and tights. |
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The peloton is in the distance. 'Peloton' is a French word that means pack. Turns out the first 2 miles or so was the "neutral zone." You were not to race, just stay together in the pack at the pace of the lead car I suppose. At the end of the neutral zone we were 'racing'. |
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The peloton approaches. |
| The front of the peloton. The guys at the front are the ones in the pro I / II / III categories. They look like they are yucking it up in the neutral zone. I was huffing just to keep up. I would be way in the back. |
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The front of the peloton up close. It doesn't look like we were that close together, but I felt like I was right on top of the other rides. It was really cool to be riding with so many other people so close together. If you look at pictures of a peloton from a high caliber professional race, like the Tour de France, they look like they are packed in even tighter. (Another pro peloton picture.) |
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Still in the neutral zone. I had time to wave |
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| And so we were off. About 2 miles after the
real start there was a decent sized hill and the back end of the peloton
that I was apart of broke up into a lot of small groups. 2 or 3 or 8
folks trying to stay together. See if you get get right behind someone
and wide in their 'wake' you have to work A LOT LESS. This is called
drafting and is a lot of fun, especially on this day because it was
really windy. A cold front was coming through so the wind was blowing
from the North at 20 to 30 mph. When you are fighting through it on a
bike that is a really strong wind.
About 9 miles into the race we turned to the south and had the wind at our backs. We really cranked up the speed then. I did not look at my speedometer but I would guess we were between 25 and 30 miles per hour. Not too hard when a 25 mph wind is at your back and you are drafting. A few miles after we turned south I was riding with 2 other guys, drafting behind them. I was pretty winded and really close to one of the guys back wheel, less than a foot away. There was a group of about 8 riders 100 - 200 yards away I thought we were trying to catch so we could do some serious drafting. I quit paying attention for a second just when the guy in front of me checked up, slowed. I saw his back wheel coming right at me and instead of easily sliding by his left side I swung violently out to the left. Big mistake. I was starting to lose control of the bike. It felt like the post (the thing the handle bars and front wheel attach to) was going one way with the front wheel and the rest of the bike and I were going another. It felt like the bike was folding up on itself. I let out quite few explicatives and swung the bike back to the right. No good. I went down with the bike. Could not believe it. My left arm was numb and didn't seem to move when I told it too. On my tight side I had a little bit of "road rash" on my ankle, knee, hip, arm, and shoulder. Road rash is the result of skidding across the road, in this case asphalt, with your bare skin. (This was my first case of road rash in about 17 years.) I came to a stop and laid on my back, really worried about my left arm. Racers went on by. One of the chase cars with two race officials pulled up. I won't ever forget the guy who came over. Older, long gray hair. He told me too stay down as he ran up and stayed calm the whole time he was with me. It really helped. Of course as soon as he said "stay down" I sat up. Wanted to show I wasn't hurt too bad. Then I stood up and as I was wiggling my left arm around or trying to the other race official exclaimed "Wow, what was that? Did you hear that pop?" I said I did not, but my left arm suddenly felt 100 times better! After talking to Kelly, who is a nurse, about it later I think I slightly dislocated my shoulder and then popped it back in. I felt okay. The officials asked if I wanted to wait for the ambulance. I looked them in the eyes and said, "No, I think I am okay and I want to keep riding." They gave me a cursory check. I mounted my bike and noticed the front wheel was rubbing against the brake some. I loosened the front brake and the wheel could spin freely. And I was off. I rode with a group of about 7 riders for the next 10 miles just trying to catch my breathe. I think we were the tail end of the race. |
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After about 8 miles to the south with the wind at our backs we turned back to the North into the teeth of the wind. It was as one rider put it, "brutal." So this is about 10 miles after the fall. I was starting to "drop" the group I was riding with. Drop means to ride away from. I wasn't trying to drop them, just going as hard as I could. That is my mom taking a picture of my back. I am pointing at my arm to tell Wendy and my Mom I fell. |
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Still going. |
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Here are 3 guys drafting. I have no idea how far they were in front of me. The two guys in the back of this trio are having to work 30% - 50% less than the guy in front, especially in this wind. The rider in front is said to be "pulling" the other riders. The others will then take a turn at the front and these three will be able to put distance between themselves and solo riders or groups of two. |
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Two more riders |
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Struggling up the hill. It look like a gentle rise, but with the iron wind blowing me back I had to struggle the whole way up. I think that is the rest of the tail end group behind me and the "broom" truck, named such because it sweeps up riders who abandon the race. |
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Working way too hard. |
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Standing on the pedals, trying to get up that hill. |
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This is about an hour and a half after the previous picture. There was another large hill heading into the wind I had to struggle up and then we I turned to the East for the last 20 - 25 miles things got a lot better. I could go a lot faster in the cross wind [and so could everyone else] and the tail wind. There were some really big hills the last 15 miles or so. I think I passed about 7 or 8 people the last 20 - 25 miles. I have crossed the line at this point and I am really spent. Just trying to get back to the car. |
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Whew! |
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Man, am I tired. |
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I was a little overwhelmed at this point. The "race" had been about 3 hours and I rode harder than I ever had for that length of time. They only posted the top 20 places for Cat 4/5 and I was no where close to being in the top 20. Guess I need to ride some more miles. It was a really fun experience and I am looking forward to doing a few more races this year. |
