Rosewood Road Series - Race 1

March 4th

I had raced Rosewood 3 times in 2005, and that was the extent of my road racing. I finished 3rd in the Cat 5 Cyclefest race in Oct 06, and then I upgraded to Cat 4. The Rosewood Series puts the Cat 4/5 group together, so you have some good riders, and some Cat 6’s if there is such a thing.

My legs felt great as I was warming up, and that was about all that I wanted. I actually had no expectation for the race besides putting in some really hard efforts. I knew the major players, and I just decided to stay behind them because they would keep me out of trouble.

Making the last turn going into the first spring, Green guy hits the deck on the last turn, and I instantly go from 20th or so, to 5th. I looked up to the sky and said “Thank you God”! So I sit on the wheels and wait to make my move. I ramped it up and came around the 2 riders to take the first sprint and $50.00.




Then all of a sudden my tire felt like it was going flat, and when I would come out of a corner I would really have to ramp it up to stay with the riders. I opened my brake levers, but it was still happening. I looked down and my skewer was loose, so I pulled out of the group. I slammed on my brakes, quickly tighten it back, and jumped back on my bike and put in the biggest effort to catch the back of the group. I havent’ done enough races to know that I can wait for the group to come back around.

For the next 15 mins I was still in the red zone because there were multiple attacks trying to get away. Just when my heartrate went down I heard the announcer with the cowbell saying that we had 3 laps. So I went from the back of the group to the middle, and I was looking for 1 wheel that knew. It was Super Sprinter Christopher Wright, and he has historically been the faster rider in this division for 3+ years ( Don’t ask me why he hasn’t moved up yet). 2 laps to got and it gets moving to over 30mph, and riders that can’t handle that pace start moving out of the way to find a wheel to draft behind and I move up into the top ten. Christopher is 2 bikes ahead of me. 1 lap to go, and a rider with Columbia on the back of his uniform makes a solo break. A bunch of riders chase, but the sprinters are just watching. On the back side of the course I look down and we are going 34mph, so I know it’s going to stay fast. Coming around the last corner the 2 riders turn too wide, and I end up right behind Chris for the final Sprint. (Again, thank you God).


I decide to just stay on his wheel, and he surges and I surge too. He looks back, puts his head down and makes is final surge and I’m directly on his wheel. If it’s a 5 race series I’ll get my chances go come around him. So I’m thinking 2nd place is not bad for a person that did not have any goals. Turns out one of those guys that was in that break actually got a huge lead and he cruised in for the easy win, so I actually finished 3rd. Now I have a reason to continue racing on the road. I think I can do a little something out here.

Pacer Out!