Room for improvement

This past Saturday was spent battling the wind and cold in Lancaster County. Back for another weekend of racing, the Strasburg Road Race was a testament to poor planning. Registration was slow (so much for mandatory pre-registration), start times were pushed back twenty minutes and did I mention it was cold? Just a week ago, it was 80 degrees and sunny. I came home with a sunburn. This weekend, I came home with a windburn and very little feeling in my toes.

Serves me right. I couldn't imagine what Nate was talking about when he asked if I had enough warm clothes at 530 in the morning! I packed plenty of layers, but no one warm article of clothing--say a bearskin blanket or sheepskin gloves.

The race itself was uneventful.

Except for the tumultuous straight-aways which confronted riders with a 20 mph headwind. What could have been a straight-away for sprinting was turned into the March of Penguins.

Except for my chain dropping in the middle of a hill as I shifted desperately into my 17, then my 18, then my 20.

Except for me losing the pack on the first lap (of 3) and having no one to work with. Actually there was one cyclist who I worked with, except by the 2nd lap she blew up and left me alone. I tried to convince her to stay on my wheel, if only for selfish reasons, so that I could draft her strategically up the hills or into the wind.

Alas, alack.

Despite this, I finished. And not in last place, either. I felt decent enough, but still have lots to work on. But that's what these early races are good for--they tell me before it's too late, on what areas I need to focus more.