I was seriously wondering if I could hang on as my performance has dipped in the last 2 weeks due to lack of riding (rain, sore knees from the cold).

Well, I managed to hang on today, and that was about all that I managed to do.

Last minute course change (friday night) saw us riding on the upper half of the industrial park vs the normal southern part due to some unfinished pavement near the old start/finish.

11 laps or so, 14.x miles.. "road race" with yellow line rule.. which some people didn't really remember and had to have the motor bike tell them to MOVE OVER.

A few semi tractor trailers had crossed the yellow line and were on the race course, but that was cleared up the next lap. 1 guy completely lost his chain, a few water bottles scattered on the road..and I saw 1 guy chuck a full frame pump off his bike during the race with another person threw a water bottle into the grass (to lighten his load)..I thought throwing things from the bike was illegal per UCI rules..

Anyways, given my lack of detraining - I managed to sit on the back and that is all I accomplished. The group bunch up into a wall of riders on the last lap.. and then strung out..and it was impossible to get near the front from the rear.

I did manage to 'catch back on' a few times by cornering properly with no one around.

Avg speed was 25 mph.. Heart rate way high the whole race (185-190).. (claritin-d?).

Very nice morning, maybe 70F race time, sunny, very light winds (0-2 mph). No hills on the course, max up/down was 30 ft. 2 primes during the race I think to try to string us out some..but it didn't work too much. I figured if I could hang on for the first prime, I could at least finish with the group.

Once again I had no strategy to move up (unlike last year, when I moved up at 2 laps to go).. Maybe its time to join a team next year and Cat up and get out of these 8:00 am start times.. . I think it was my 10th race over 3 years.

Also no crashes!! which is a plus!

.

Glad you got some racin' in this late in the season.

UCI rules? Heh, that doesn't apply to Cat5 -- you're under USCF or whatev. Usually it's "no throwing things off the bike, except in designated areas (like feed zones or whatever.)" I've seen people DQ'ed for that kind of thing. But I guess Cat 5's is Cat 5's.

I agree, get thee upgraded!

Glad you got some racin' in this late in the season.

UCI rules? Heh, that doesn't apply to Cat5 -- you're under USCF or whatev. Usually it's "no throwing things off the bike, except in designated areas (like feed zones or whatever.)" I've seen people DQ'ed for that kind of thing. But I guess Cat 5's is Cat 5's.

I agree, get thee upgraded!

uci/ucsf - no wonder I could not upgrade! ;)

there are a few more out of town.. but too far for me

This is the next adventrue hopefully this coming weekend (if the weather holds out)

http://www.wvcf.org/cmc/course.html

48f/68f low/high with chance of thunderstorms doesn't make 10,000 ft of climbing sound good :(

what kind of idiot throws a bottle in a crit?
if you have to get ride of a bottle before you pick up one from the feed, okay.
MAYBE if you have a tough uphill finish in a road race I could maybe maybe might could see it.
Every time I see it I can't believe it. who the f*ck do some people think they are?

That looks fun. Hard centuries are a different thing than races, for sure, and weather can definitely make a difference -- especially on the descents. Watch out for all them folk that don't know what they're doing. Even if it looks ugly out, though, get out there and ride!

You'll always be glad you did, right? :)