I did pretty well today...........

Results

So I won. I don't really know how it happened.

I wasn't even sure I was going to race. If I hadn't made a point to take the day off of work already, I probably wouldn't have gone. I raced hard all last weekend and then put in a pretty hard training week, which included a 5 hour day that I hadn't fully recovered from.

But Sat. morning came around and for the first time in 5 months it was sunny and warm. How could I not race? It was a gorgeous day. 80, sunny, and DRY!

The race started off pretty slow. No one was very willing to do much work and everyone was still getting warmed up. The course was pretty hilly, but only had a couple short sections that were steep at all. It definitely didn't have the climbs that I like to attack on. Since I didn't feel very fresh and the course didn't exactly suite me, I decided that I was going to be pretty aggressive and try to make a break away. If nothing else I would get a good workout in.

After sitting in through the first lap of 3, on the second lap I put in a pretty hard attack on the hilliest sections of the race. I was trying to force a breakaway but no one would come with me. I got a 30 second gap pretty quickly, but since I was all alone and 30 mi. from the finish I didn't really want to waste any chances I had of doing well. So I sat up and drifted back to the pack. The rest of the race was pretty boring. I just stayed in the front 20 guys and tried to stay safe. I followed a couple of attacks hoping something would stick, but it never worked out.

Things slowed way down in the last 2 mi. of the race and everyone was looking around to see who would push the pace. I was very tempted to try a flyer from a long ways out, but decided against since the finish was uphill and I had been strong on the climbs all day. The last km is uphill to the finish. I was in the first ten guys right were I wanted to be. Then from the right side an attack went, by my man Zach ( A friend of Hail's that I've met). He's pretty strong and I knew He'd be able to hold it until the finish. I of course was boxed in and it took me a couple of valuable seconds to get out. By that time Zach had already opened up a 100 meter gap or so. I just punched it and gave it everything I had. Zach made the wrong decision to sit on another guys wheel and wait for the finish to take him at the line. It gave me a chance to catch up and I just kept going past them. Zach then took my wheel and I was able to hold him off at the line by about a bike length. It hurt.

Anyways, Cat. 4 win......... check. $55 prize, thank you very much. Now just subtract my $30 entry fee, $15 gas, and post race burrito; and I still lost money on the day. And so the life of an amateur athlete goes...

The win bumps me up to 24 upgrade points. Which, is 4 points more than I need to upgrade to Cat. 3. I think I might stay in the 4's until I get 30 pts. at which point they will force me to upgrade. I know I'm going to get slaughtered in the 3's for the rest of the year, so I might as well try to win some more.

-Lenny

p.s. If you happen to be a team director, or happen to know a team director's aunt's, roomate's, 3rd cousin; I'm currently accepting contracts offers. Please contact me at atsiv4@hotmail.com or 231-670-5682. Thank you.