4-07-09 Night at the Oval

First race of the year, and those are always a good way to see how your winter training has paid off. Well to say the least mine needs more work. It was about 40 degrees out witha strong NW wind which meant the back stretch would be killer.

First up was a 15 lap scratch race, and since there was only 14 of us there wan no splitting up into 2 groups.everyone raced at the same time. I did the same as last year with going out to hard on the 2nd lap instead of just sitting in an got shelled by the 3rd lap. Thankfully I had another guy fall off with me and we just took turns pulling each other around for the next 10 or so laps.

2Nd race they split us up in 3 groups divided by age. Being in the young group has its advantages but also some disadvantages. We were the 3rd and final group to go so we could watch what everyone else did and not make the same mistakes. Finally it was our turn for a 3 lap lead out race, so out timestarted when the first person crossed starting the last lap and ended when the first guy finished that lap. We led out Mac to what ended up being the fastest time by almost 2 seconds.

3rd and final race was another 12 lap race, and this time I was determined to stay with the pack. First couple laps and so far so good, I am able to sit in and even spend short bursts at the front. Then at about the halfway mark it happens, I got shelled again, this time was my own fault, we were into the headwind and I miss judged why was the last guy in the group and they shot by me like I was standing still. So knowing I was OTB and no hope of getting back on I rode the next 4 laps like a time trial just doing what I could to not get lapped. I did however get lapped because the 3 lead guys were putting down a blistering pace, so I saw that and just sat up and let them finish.

Next race is on the 19th, and that is a MTB race in the Quad Citites, hopefully I do better offroad than on.