I took my Moto Le Champion to its first road race today. Since I'm in the 'beginner men's' grupo, I didn't have to do that many laps of the race course, which was about 7 miles around. I managed to stay with the pack to the end and am satisfied with my time and finish place.

When I was at the rider's meeting before the race, an 'expert' class man rolls up on his Le Champion SL. Very nice with Ultegra rear derailleur and carbon cranks. His was Silver.

So count 'em, 2 Motos at the races today. And imagine my surprise when it occurred to me that someone who has been riding a lot longer than I have and who knows bikes a lot better than I do chooses to ride a Moto. Perish the thought.

P.S. Gosh there were a lot or Orbea's, Litespeed's, Giants, etc there but at least there were 2 Moto's in the mix as well.

Last year in Virginia Beach's biggest Tri (Sandman (http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=78469)) the first guy in on the bike was on a Moto.

Is your Le Champion equipped with Force?

Is your Le Champion equipped with Force?

Mine is of '06 vintage purchased in late July of that same year. It is full Ultegra 10.

P.S. I'm just about to cross the 2k mile mark, with 1k of that being clocked this season. And I finally broke down and purchased a digital camera. I'll post some pics as soon as I get back from a little fishing trip that I'm taking, which starts tomorrow, Tuesday.

We had a major 100 mile road race here this past weekend. The SL and rider mentioned above was either in the lead pack of finishers, all of whom received the same time as the winner, or was in the pack that finished about 3 minutes behind. There were a lot of high-dollar bikes in that race, Orbeas, Cervellos, Looks, Litespeeds, Kestrels, etc. Nice to know that a good rider on an inexpensive Moto can stick with some of the best bikes around.

Oh, and as far as I can tell from photos of the race, that SL is mostly, if not completely, stock.

I don't know that guy but I may have a chance to talk with him this Wednesday as the local club is holding a hill climb then. If I do see him, I'll ask him about any changes he's made to that SL.