Humiliating...

Well, not really humiliating but after mulling the race over some quiet time it feels that way a little. Saturdays race was the Twilight Criterium in Papillion NE. This was a .6 mile course with a small uphill grade on the start/finish stretch and a BIG downhill on the backside stretch. The course also featured three 90 degree turns and one 70 degree turn, which turned out to be pretty nasty.

Since the race was called a twilight race, this means all the races began in the afternoon. The cat 5 race, which myself belongs, began at 4PM and which seemed to be the hottest part of the day. Temperatures were in the upper 90's.

After approximately forty-five minutes of warming up on the trainer we, myself and fellow teamFIRE member Aaron Gammel, were able to get on the course for a ten minute pre-ride. Coming down the hill on the backside we got up to thirty miles per hour and took turn three with no problem. Approximately 50 yards was turn four. This turn was just nasty, especially at high speeds. One would find themselves almost riding over the curb on the far side of the street.

The race was on and after 8 laps I was lapped by the pack and was subsequently pulled. I wasn't the first one pulled and I wasn't the last one pulled. At the time I wasn't overly upset feeling I did the best I could with the little skills I posses at this time. The reason people were being pulled was due to safety sake, which is completely understandable, especially with turn 4.

The other races were fun to watch. The women's race was probably the most exciting. One lady, a former national cyclocross champion, took a nasty spill on turn 4. She was back on her bike and lapped the entire field three times for the win, completely amazing. teamFIRE's own Janna Vavra kept teamKaos's Morgan Chaffin behind her the whole time and took a third overall. Janna was the definite big winner for teamFIRE and a hearty congratulations go out to her.

After an evening of just hanging out, watching the races, then everyone going out to dinner it was time to call it a night. The next morning was when the hind sight blues started hitting. "If only I would have..." kept leaping into my mind and I couldn't get over it. I just need to keep telling myself that I am just beginning this journey and practice and patience will prevail in the long run.

Now it's time to prepare for RAGBRAI which starts this weekend. Once again I will be away from the computer all next week and there will probably not be any updates until I get back. At which time I will more than likely give a detailed blow-by-blow account of the whole adventure.