Back when I was growing up, in my PBD (Pre-Biking Days), I went to many a Padres baseball game, as well as a few monster truck rallies. So much so that, as a kid, one of my goals in life was to compete in something at Jack Murphy Stadium (later renamed Qualcomm Stadium). Fast forward, well, enough years to do a 30+ race, and I found myself on my stationary trainer, gazing upon the beautiful sunrise, and Qualcomm Stadium. In just a few short minutes, I'd be on my bike, racing around the stadium.
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| Mind the view! |
To say that I was excited was an understatement. It was the realization of a dream years in the making, and I can't thank Sean Burke and the rest of the gang at Crank Cycling enough for putting it on. Honestly, this was a dream come true.
The course for Red Trolley last year was a lot of fun, but overall it didn't create many surprises. Due to its fast, rather non-technical nature, most races stayed together, creating a bunch sprint. This years course, though, oh man. This year was exciting, both as a racer and as a spectator. The 180° turn right after the start/finish line, the three lefts and a right, along with the straightaways, all made the course fast, but technical enough to help any breakaways that escaped the peloton.
The first race of the day, cat 4, would hurt. Shoot, they both would. I knew this going into them. After all, it was my first race since August. And after a spat of illness, knee pain, back pain, breathing problems, and laziness, I wasn't nearly in the shape I wanted to be in. But I'm nothing if not stubborn. I rolled up to the line, oatmeal and coffee in my belly, legs warmed up, my fiancée by the start line, and happy in the knowledge that I'd beat somebody that day.
Before I knew it, we were off! The pace started off pretty gently...for about 0.1 miles. Then we came out of the 180°, and immediately I was cranking out 1,000 watts as the pace escalated. The next lap was about 900 in the same section. Repeat that 17 times, with a peak power output of 1,319 watts. And that was just the first race of the day. True to the nature of the course, one lone racer escaped off the front, and there he stayed for the next 20 minutes. He dangled off the front by 15-20 seconds, tantalizing the peloton with his defiance. But it was not to last.
The pace picked up. The solo breakaway broke apart, and a three man team formed up to replace him. But still, the peloton kept cranking away. Coast through the 180°, accelerate hard. Take the sweeper left. Accelerate again. Take the left. Take the other left. Accelerate. Turn right. Hard acceleration through the straightaway. Slow down for the 180. Eventually, 33 minutes in (or roughly 13.8 miles), my legs fell off, and I let the pack drop me while they queued up for the final sprint.
Obviously I was hating life. But damn was I happy to be racing again, and the grin I had plastered across my face as I rolled across the finish line reflected it.
Eventually (see also: an hour later), I was on the line again, this time with guys more experienced and probably faster than I was. But who cares? I was determined to mix it up with the best of them! The 3/4 race played out pretty similarly to the cat 4 race, though we did cover 2 extra laps in roughly the same amount of time, for a nice even total of 16 miles in 37 minutes. For those that wanna do the math, that's an average of 25.7 miles an hour for 37 minutes. Much faster. Much, much more fun.
There's something magical about a bike race, and it was an experience I was able to share with my future in-laws, most of whom came to watch me during the 30+ 3/4 race. They got to see the pain on our faces as we flew by at nearly 30 mph. The bobbing and weaving as everyone jockeyed for position. The audible call outs as we tried to keep ourselves, and others, safe. Honestly, if you never go and do a crit or road race, you should at least go to a crit or road race. Shoot, even watching videos of Sunday's race is enough to get my heart pumping again.
And that brings me to why I race. I can't tell you how many times I've had people tell me I'm crazy, or that they can't understand how I can ride on "those skinny tires," or even how I can race so close to other people. Shoot, I've even heard this from other cyclists. Do you wanna know why I do it? It's fun. It's challenging. It's a thrill. Go watch that video again. Or even watch the videos from my HeArt of Idaho Falls fondo.
I do this to myself because I firmly believe that we should each push ourselves to be better. To do better. It may hurt, but that's OK. We should all try something that can push us beyond what we thought our limits were. When it comes down to it, the only person stopping you, is you.
The coming season, I'm gonna step out of my way. Stop being my own hurdle, and start being a driving force. I encourage you all to push yourself a little bit this year. The couch will always be there.
Till the next one, keep the rubber side down, and your skin off the ground.
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