Race #2

Race #2 was on Saturday, and I woke up to a bike tire that needed a little attention. I almost panicked, but instead I emailed the team, and of course a teammate showed up to give my tire the attention that it needed. (I love my team and being on a team.)

At registration this time around, I knew to show my racing license instead of my driver's license. Read all about race #1 here.

I felt super excited and confident, and I was determined to pedal the entire race and stay on the course...Well, I stayed with the pack for about four or five laps of the 1.2 or 1.3 mile loop, and I literally ran out of steam. I stayed in the race, but I got separated from the group and literally did not have it in me to catch up with the group.

There is something that is known as surges in races, and that is where people are riding at a certain pace, and then someone or some people surge ahead of the pack. At this point, the pace of the group picks up for awhile, then the pace goes back down to where it was before or maybe a little faster. My team leader stated that "those surges are what really make the difference between riding a bike and racing a bike." 

Well, the surges completely wore me out, and I must work on being a racer and not a rider.

From this race, I realize that I must get use to my heart rate being high for longer periods of time, I must practice surging and recovering, and it was reconfirmed that I absolutely love training to be a racer. (I got a lot of work to do, but I love this kind of work.)

Me, nervous as hell at the starting line!

Until the next time......