Cold Toes

Since last weekend didn't quite do it, today I finally got some racing miles in the legs. I drove out to the Cold Toes training race just south of the Dulles Airport. I warmed up with Bryan, Darren, and Pedro before getting on the line for the 3/4 "B" race. The pace was nice and quick from the gun, so I never really had to worry about making pace. Darren went off the front early on, so I tried to relax in the field and see how things developed. It took me a while to get comfortable in the peloton again, but it came back soon enough.

Darren was definitely on form and he stayed out there a long while. He was eventually brought back and I gave it a go for a counter-attack, but uh, I didn't get much gap on the field. I was put right back in to my place as pack filler. No real big breaks happened again until, whadya know, it was Darren again. He stayed out there again for quite a while--to the point I thought he might finish it off. But alas he was pulled back and an LSV rider slipped away.

I thought we might organize and pull him back, but for whatever reason, we never could and I found myself making dumb moves. Eventually Darren wanted some tempo in the final laps and so I tried to help him out. My legs were really hurting and it was all I could do to try and pull him to the final corner. I didn't quite make it and everyone went around me for the final sprint. I think Darren ended up fifth or so.

After switching my number in the car, I lined up again for the "A" race. There were plenty of old faces in the mix for this one. I really had doubts about how much I had in me and when we finally saw lap cards I was taken aback at seeing something in the neighborhood of 26. Oh well, this was a training race after all. I dug in and tried to find my groove. In summary, there were lots of laps, they hurt a lot, and a breakaway lapped the field. It felt great to ride so fast and I surprised myself with how much I had left in the tank. I failed at bridging, but otherwise I held my own in the peloton. A good day of training. Next weekend, it's for real.