First, a quick word: it seems to be gang initiation week in DC. There's been a lot more shady shit with teenagers waving guns around on the metro and beating up reasonably big dudes in reasonably safe neighborhoods in the last few days than usual. So for all of you in DC this week, keep your wits about you. Bike racing is a lot more fun if you haven't been mugged in a while.
All that aside, BikeJam this weekend was a pretty good show. I raced the Men's 5. The morning was a little bit of a mess—I set my alarm for 6 pm, only 12 hours after I really wanted to get up. I woke up refreshed and without an alarm, which is rarely a good sign. I rolled out of bed at 6:40 in a huff, and managed to get out the door by 7. By the time I got into Baltimore, I made the executive decision not to set up my trainer, but to just try to get a quick warmup in on the course. I had time to get in two laps before staging began. In the last 4 or so races, I've been diligent about getting at least 30 minutes on the trainer to warm up, so I was nervous about my legs still being cold and tight.
I hadn't noticed that there were race announcers until just after the race started. “Watch out kid—here come the big boys” was (I think) directed at me. I had a little trouble clipping in, and I got swarmed. This would only be the first time the announcers would talk about me during the race. I made my way up to the front third of the group after the first roundabout and just stayed in the mix for the first three and a half laps. A Kelly Benefit Strategies guy was about 10 or 15 seconds up the road, and I was getting bored, so I took off, bringing just about everybody with me. It felt good to be at the front of the group pushing the pace, and it was nice not to get a face full of road grit for about a lap. Apparently as I was coming through the start/finish the announcers saw me and decided to do a little color commentary on my situation. So as we're rolling through at the turn of the next lap (and I'm screaming at someone going Theo Bos on me), I hear the announcers saying “...and here's Richard, a classic category 5 racer, not affiliated with any team, just riding...” I can get down with that.
In any case, I stuck with the strung out group for the remainder of the race, most of the time in the top 10. With about a lap and a half to go, I decided I would go with the next move. So I waited. And I waited. And waited. No one went, I got boxed in, and then I remembered my finish line sprint is about as good as my Urdu. I rolled in at the back of the group for a 17th place finish. Not terrible by any means. I feel like I'm starting to get a better grasp of what kind of racer I am. I'm interested to see how the race in Poolesville goes this weekend. I think it suits me, but we'll only know for sure when (if?) I cross the finish line Saturday morning.
In any case, chapeaux to Kelly Benefit Strategies for putting on a good race and for taking the Men's 5 race with an actual leadout.
Have a good week and be safe.
Listening to Someone Great by LCD Soundsystem.
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