Nelson Frink Orosi 35+ 4/5

I signed up for the Orosi Road Race over a month ago because my schedule was open this weekend and the Ronde von Brisbeen races didn't allow Cat 5 masters. Will Brieger mentioned on the list-serve he was signing up, so I decided I wouldn't be on my own and went for it. I ended up having a great time, and that may sound strange coming from someone who got dropped a tenth of the way into the first lap. Will invited Justin Hall and I to carpool down with him, but Justin couldn't make it. I took Will up on it, and gladly accepted his offer to drive down in his BMW as it got twice the gas mileage of my Ford truck. We stayed at a decent Motel in Selma, and had a fun drive talking about bike racing, sports, kids, dogs, careers and whatever else came up along the way. He saved me $75 in gas and wouldn't even let me pay my share, although he did let me pick up the tab for our post-race lunch at Perko's Cafe and Grill.

The race course was epic, and it was a bit disappointing to see such a low turnout for what I think is an outstanding race venue. The 35+4/5 category was the only one to fill, and some categories had just had a few people. It was just like Copper with better pavement, but more challenging corners and a longer but less steep initial climb. I went into it with a plan based on my experience at Copper, and I told Will my strategy and that I hoped it would get me a top 20 or maybe top 15: ride steady knowing I would get dropped on the initial climb, work with other riders to move back up, and use my strength of endurance to let attrition move me up.

The 1400 ft continuous climb started right off, and it wasn't long before I was fading off the back. As part of my goal to start becoming more aware of what is going on in the race around me, I counted about 25 riders heading on up the grade, with Will 3rd from the front. I crested the climb with one other rider, and we quickly caught another, and soon a few more. Eventually we got up to 8 or 9 riders, but even though we were picking more people up, people were dropping off as well. When we came back to the 5 mile stretch on the valley floor at the end of the first lap, we had a nice rotating paceline going. I had a challenging time staying with the group on the 2nd time up the climb, and six of us came over the top together. Around the back side we came past Will, and although I was sorry to see him dropped, I was glad to see another rider added to our grupetto and told him to jump on. I looked back a bit later and he wasn't there, and I realized there was a significant problem, but decided to hang with the group. I'll leave it to Will elaborate on his triumphs and tribulations of the race.

Our group gradually whittled down to four, and we descended onto the flats and resumed our rotating paceline. I looked back and there was nobody for at least a quarter mile back. Despite that, we kept riding hard and trading pulls. Randy and Luke and Nick and I kept that up inside of the 1K marker, and even sprinted out the finish where I took 3rd. It fit well with my overall plan of using racing as part of my training, rather than a goal of it. I finished 14th according to the woman at the finishing line.

Lessons learned: 1. If you're not a fast rider you can still do OK and have a good race. 2. Learn your strengths and race with them. 3. The journey is sometimes better than the destination.

Nelson