Spring Fling

The weather was beautiful on Friday (March 6th). . . so much so that I actually ran outside in shorts and a tshirt for my morning run. . . this was going to be a great weekend, I could feel it.

Friday night I decided to switch up the normal group ride and head over to Lakewood to meet up with some other triathletes who in turn would head out to Longview lake to meet up with some other triathletes. Eric came along from the normal group, so I met him on my way up to Lakewood. Now I knew Friday night that I should errrr take it easy Saturday morning, because there was a good chance that I may race that afternoon at the Spring Fling series at Clinton Lake, Kansas.

When I took off from my house at 6:45 am, I knew right away I probably should have left a few minutes earlier. There was a very strong wind out of the south and my 10 mile ride DUE SOUTH was going to be a tough one if I was going to meet up with the guys to head out to Longview Lake. I think my average was around 15mph on the way up to Lakewood. . . and just so you know, the economy is alive and well, because Corner Cafe was PACKED!!! at 7:00 AM and yes on my return trip home the parking lot and surrounding countryside was filled with cars at 10:30. . .so obviously people aren't hurting that bad.

To make a long story short, I made it to Lakewood, met up with Eric along the way, then met Hugh and Tim at the Lakewood clubhouse and headed out to Longview via Rhineheart Road (Big ole hill). The wind was even stronger now and it took all of our might and a lot of Hugh pulling to get us to Longview by 8:00AM.

I think we rolled in a few minutes late and my odometer already read, 22 miles. .. great, so if I turn around now, I get 44 for the day, but I knew that in the end it would be much more, which would make for tired legs for the Spring Fling race later that afternoon.

We headed around Longview clockwise and Hugh pulled most of the way until I decided to attack coming off his wheel for KOM. I shouldn't have done that and later apologized for having him pull the whole way and then I jumped for the top (he said to not apologize because he would have done the same thing to me). :) You have to love cycling. . .

After we came down the hill and headed north on Raytown road, I had put a bit of space on the main group, but I knew with the winds at their backs, that the train would be coming by shortly. . and come by it did. . they came rolling past me at probably around 28mph and then I jumped on. Hugh was the engine pulling the train and Chris Yows and Wheaties guy was right behind him with me and then some others behind me. Hugh picked it up and then pulled off and Chris took off like a rocket, Wheaties guy couldn't hang and fell off pretty fast, I bridged the gap and was giving it all I had to try and catch Yow's wheel. I looked down at my speedometer at one point and it said 38 mph!!! This is on flats with a small incline mind you. . ..

We ended up waiting for everyone at the dam and tried to keep it together from there on out. I guess everyone had their fun for the day. All in all I ended up doing 68 miles for the morning ride. . . and my legs felt every mile of it. . .

Are you up for a Spring Fling???? The Spring Fling Criterium series is basically a series of bike races throughout March and into April.
Saturday afternoon we loaded Kloden into the Sable with his stroller and my bike and Amy and all of the bike gear and Kloden's gear. .. we were full and ready to go!!!

We arrived at Clinton Lake and after a brief sight seeing tour, found where we were suppose to be. I had about 45 minutes till the race, so I got setup, registered and headed out for a warmup. When the race was finally ready to go, they told us we would have 10 laps total with a "Sprint Lap" on the 5th lap, meaning that you can pick up extra points if you are one of the top 4 to cross the line.

When the gun went off, everyone jumped to get going and we were off. The pace quickly picked up and I felt the 68 miles from earlier in my legs right away. Randy and Dave (the other two Bike Stop guys) seemed to have no problem staying in the front. They both said before the race that they would help me out as much as possible, all the time I was thinking, don't worry about me, I will probably get lapped at some point. :)

I found myself at the back of the pack pretty quick. I was trying to negotiate the corners since they can get tight, fast and scary. I honestly thought after the first lap that I was probably not going to make it with the main group. After about the 3rd lap I started to feel a little better as my legs were convinced that I they needed to pitch in and help out. Going into the 4th lap, I knew that lap 5 was coming up and that was the sprint lap. My legs were back and I moved up to be closer to the front of the pack. Coming around the last corner to the finish I was probably about 7th or so and just turned on the gas on the inside. I knew I would catch most of them and had a shot at 2nd place, but I ran out of realestate and ended up getting 3rd for the sprint points. I wasn't too upset since I was having fun and my legs still felt good. I will admit though that the sprint did take a little out of me. Thankfully most of the other guys were tired too and the pace backed off a little.

About lap 7, Dave come flying past me and says "Relax" . . . I knew that he and Randy had something up their sleeves. Randy comes up too and takes about 3 guys with them and pushes the pace a little. I know they were trying to tire the guys out by pushing the pace while letting me rest a little in the pack. They were being good teammates is what that comes down to. Not to mention the fact, that I think I asked Dave twice which lap we were on during the race. :)
Coming onto lap 8 the pack slowed down and it seemed as though no one wanted to be out front. I got close to the front, but never wanted to pull at this stage of the game. Going into the final lap I just wanted to be close to the front and wanted to make sure that I was able to get out of the pack when I needed to. With about halfway to go in the final lap, a guy takes off and I figure I can't wait anymore, I need to go too. I jumped and took off after him, as I came off the second to last corner I caught a glimpse behind me and could see the pack was coming to. The first place guy wasn't going to be caught by me, this much I knew, and here I was out in no man's land. I spent energy trying to catch the guy and now I thought for sure that I would get passed by the pack and end up 10th or so.

Coming off the last corner, I hadn't been passed by anyone and just put my head down and took off, I could see the finish getting closer and closer, and I was just trying to hold off as many as I could. One Cycle City racer caught me and passed me by about 1/2 a bike length and then the race was over. I got 3rd overall (although I haven't seen the official results)!!!! I am happy with the result, I learned a lot and I think I am hooked a little now. :) Enjoy the pics.