Posted by Dan on 3. May 2010 07:35
Our weekend of racing in North Carolina began Friday night as the majority of Celerity Cycling p/b Fitness Together team members still able to ride hitched up the wagons and made for the border. Wick's parents had graciously agreed to play host to a hoard of voracious cyclists so our home for the weekend would be Fayetteville - conveniently located near both Saturday's road race in Southern Pines and Sunday's crit in Sanford.
I was looking forward to the road race as I'd finally get to race on the new HED Stinger 6s. Feeling fresh and excited by the prospect of getting to finish a road race, I rounded up the troops headed toward Fort Bragg. To make things interesting, we arrived 20 minutes before the start with no cash in our pockets. A mad dash through town to the nearest ATM and back to the parking lot gave us 15 minutes or so to scribble some lines on the waiver, collect our numbers and suit up. There were four of us in this race - all lined up at the absolute back of the pack.
I'll let you guess how easy it was to move around with 80 riders in the pack and the center-line rule in full effect. Where I'd normally make up ground in corners and climbs, it was damn hard - nay impossible - from the back of the bus. I eventually gave up and waited for the 200m mark where we'd have use of the full road. Surely my mad sprinting skills could carry me from 80th place to the front of the pack before the 500 meter-long peloton covered 200 meters.
I was glad to hear I wasn't the only one who just wasn't aggressive enough to move up through the packed crowd. Justin and "Frank" also hung near the back for most of the race. Wick managed to get to the first third, but got boxed in early and often. "Frank" somehow managed to snake the inside of a corner when everyone went way wide and wound up on then off the front mid-way through the last lap. He was quickly absorbed. His was the most aggressive move made by the team.
True to my word, I sprinted for the line when the left lane opened up, coming from dead last to 34th. The degrees of rockitude I exhibited were immeasurable. Justin finished 27th, Wick sat up and finished where he finished and "Frank" exploded, finishing 57th. At least my wheels worked.