30 minutes before my race I went to adjust my seat and snapped the
clamp bolt in half. The race didn't have support, so I scoured the
parking lot looking for someone with 2 bikes. I had all but given up
and was heading to my car to leave and pout when 5 minutes before my
race, I found a guy who let me use his from his junker...and it fit. I
jammed to my 35-39 year old class race just in time to make the start,
but without a warm-up. I've never been in a mixed race like this where
the pros ride next to the Freds, some with TT bars, so it was
interesting. I had no idea what to expect from the course and covered
a couple of moves I shouldn't have in the beginning of the race. The
large group (100+?) started making a left and for some reason a large
commercial truck was backing right in the middle of the course followed
by some cones in the middle of the road. The group scrambled in chaos
and I heard the sound of some crashing behind me. As I rounded the
turn 100' back from the front of the group, I realized my problems were
only beginning as I gazed up to a rather massive and steep climb. I
started making my way to the front , but couldn't hang on with the 140
pound road and MTB climbers and started to fade about 3/4 of the way
up, my heart rate past a sustainable rate. I felt awful, but got
better as we turned and made the descent, though I was watching the
breakaway group ride away. When I reached the bottom of the climb, I
waited for a small group of 5 behind me and organized a pace line. As
we picked up other riders off of the front, the group grew and we
started making some real headway, eventually plucking off everybody who
wasn't attached to the front group. The finish area had a couple of
dangerously tight and graveled corners, but I'd positioned myself in
third spot and then sprinted to beat the rest in the chase group,
finishing 9th.
All in all it was a fun adventure, but damn, my legs hurt already from
that climb!!!

Dan Miller has extremely good news about the results in his 25-29 race,
but I'll let him tell you. I heard Eric and Sumi were there, but I
didn't run into them.

Joel