Raceday! We left the hotel at 7a and went down the street to grab breakfast at the Columbia Diner. Service was great and we had our food very quickly even though the place was packed with people getting their breakfast at the local hangout. I had my usual pre-race oatmeal, this time with some sausage, and we were on our way to Strasburg.

I was a bit surprised when we got to the course how far away the parking was and how many people had shown up. I guess looking back at the start sheets, this shouldn't have been a suprise. Being out in the middle of farmlands, there was no shelter from the wind and we all took note of that as we stepped out of the car. Temperatures were below freezing and the wind was gusting 20+mph. It made me feel as though we were having our very own version of a Belgian Classic.

From then until until it was time to race, we were waiting in line for registration. I guess this being the first race of the year really had the organizers struggling. The registration process was absolutely awful. It was so slow that even ten minutes before the scheduled start time, nearly the entire field for the 4/5 race was waiting in line. Luckily they moved the start time back a bit, but they didn't exactly do that well either. Will and I got just a minimal warm-up in by riding the last half mile of the course. I had hoped to get in a full 5.5 lap, but that wasn't going to happen. When Will and I got to the start line, nearly the whole field was lined up. That left us near the back, crowded in amongst the other riders.

At long last the gun sounded, and my road racing season was underway. The start sent us immediately up a hill and about halfway up the hill I was run off the road by a rider who didn't keep his line. His quick, "Sorry" kept me from totally flipping out, but I had to stop and then restart and clip in, which was hard to do on an incline. By the time I was back riding, I was dead last, nearly 50 yards behind the pack! I was worried about someone shooting off the front and with the yellow line rule in effect, I had no idea whether I'd get to the front soon or not. The roads were very small and we easily filled up the right side.

Fortunately, on the first lap, it seemed as thought the officials were sympathetic to folks in the back looking to move up. I passed the whole field just across the line in the left lane and Will came with me. It was clear in a hurry that the wind was going to dominate the race.

The race was four laps around the 5.5 mile course and not much happened until the end. There were about five or so major players at the front of the race, but the wind kept us all in check. Sean Hendricks threw in the most attacks. I don't think he ever got further away than 50 yards, but he kept trying and I kept reeling him back in.

The only move of note was made by Evan Ellicott. He took off going up the start line hill at the bell and played his cards pretty smart. He was able to draft off of the pace car for a while, then he was able to tuck in with the Master's field, which had started two mintues ahead of us. So with those moves, he was able to get maybe 150 yards at most. With a little bit of help from one of the other main guys, we easily brought him back before the final hill.

After that last hill, things started to pick up as everyone tried to get position for the sprint. The pace finally started to go somewhere even though the wind was killer. The last three-quarters of a mile weren't straight into the wind, so everyone was exciteable. Coming up to the turn before we got out of the direct wind, we were coming up on a Master's rider. He was struggling up the slight incline and I told him, "Don't move," because we were going to be passing him on the left and right. Well as soon as I said that, predictably, like a scared jogger on a bike path, he darted right. I had to swerve off the road for the second time in the race and unclip. Fortunately, this time I was faster getting back. I lost just enough that I was probably tenth or so.

From there we started charging hard. The finish was after an 'S' Curve and going up one last incline before the 'S' turn, Jeff Salvitti had a gap on the group. I went after him and we were 1-2 into the 'S'. Apparently he didn't realize the yellow line rule wasn't in effect b/c he stayed to the right. I cut inside and gained some ground on him. I was thinking at that point either I'd win or be second. Well, looking at the pictures from the race, we were getting caught by quite a few of the other riders.

I kept pressing all the way to the finish and at the line got nailed by Hendricks on my right shoulder--almost causing me to crash. I wasn't too pleased about that, but I stayed up just fine. I had to wait a while to find out where I placed. Looking at Jess' photos, I figured I could be anywhere from fourth to second. Turns out I was third and Salvitti was pipped at the line by David Lowe.
Hendricks actually decided to protest the result, thinking that Salvitti and myself had moved inward, cutting him off at the line. My pictures and the officials' video camera confirmed we hadn't and the result stood. For third place I got a trophy and $40--enough to refund my entry fee and leave me with $15 left over. Pretty cool for my first road race.

I came into this race incredibly excited about getting the season started and I wanted nothing less than a win. To get third was disappointing, but with the conditions forcing a field sprint, I can't complain too much. I raced far too much at the front as I've done in just about every race and I'll have to learn to stop that if I'm going to have success at the higher levels. I actually spent so much time at the front, I figured I'd be toast for the sprint and was hoping to give Will a shot at it. I couldn't find him in the last lap, so I gave it my all. I'm ready to race Jeff Cup now, where the field will be back to Category 5 racers only. I was the top Cat 5 in the race today, so that's encouraging as well.

An interesting note is that Evan Ellicott raced again, in the 3/4 race and actually bettered his sixth place finish by two to finish fourth. Congrats to him on a couple solid rides--including the only break of note in our race. That does make me feel good about my fitness because I think I could have rode with him if I'd been Cat 4. I also want to start racing 3/4 because the purse is $200 larger. All in all, a good day despite the weather and I'm happy I finally got to do some racing.

Photos / Results