Hey team, Bariani was my first race and I thought that was a good test of my newracing skills. Warnerville being my second race ever and now with acombined group of 4/5s, I really only had a goal of finishing with agroup or not very far back. Well I did end up finishing on my ownbut I will get to that later. The race started with a 3 mile neutral start with the wind at our backs. DBCbroke into two small groups within the pack with one group at the front andme in the second a hand full of riders back. Once we turned onto WarnervilleRoad, I was trying to get my bearings in the pack and keep track of theother DBC riders. The first few miles were a right cross/head wind that waspretty strong and I was trying to stay on the left side of the pack. Towardsthe first turn I crept to the front of the pack meeting up with other DBCriders. After the first turn we got a bit of tail wind and Rod, Nelson andDerek wanted (I believe) to drive the pack through the next few turns inorder to keep it strung out somewhat. Once we got into the long straightawaybefore the unpaved section, we let up on the pace. The tailwind and rollersfelt good and I was getting used to the riders around me. Then we hit theunpaved section. All I wanted to do through this section was to survive. Wehad a few DBC towards the front going in. I slide back some places throughthis section, staying somewhat away from most riders. After coming out ofthis section, I thought it was hard drudging through it, but I found a goodline and would stick to it through the other two laps. We finally came up tothe turn onto Warnerville Road (W.R.) and hit the wind again. I felt the second lap was pretty sweet. Again I found myself towards thefront of the pack keeping my eye out for other DBC guys. At one point I sawthat a DBC rider was up the road with two other guys. I think this wastowards the end of W.R. And I found myself with Derek and Rod at the frontof the main pack. Rod was great in his direction through the next few miles.We tried to control the pack in order to allow Nelson to get a bigger gap.Rod and I would chase down riders who wanted to bridge the gap. At one pointtwo Z-Team riders tried to organize and catch the break. I broke out infront and quickly started to soft petal slowing them down. I tried to stayin between them as they were trying to switch off. I thought I wassuccessful in breaking their rhythm to the point that they gave up.Somewhere down the road I drifted back a few places on the right side of thepack. I looked left and drifted ever so slightly as a rider came up theright side. It was almost the end of the race for me because he hit me. Istayed up, but he rode his bike through the ditch and eventually back uponto the road. He had some good handling skills. Right before the unpavedsection I found myself towards the front getting a draft off of a big guy.We turned onto the road with a slight head wind. I decided it was best todrift back in the pack a little getting some draft and conserving energyover the dirt. Again I found my line and survived it. Coming out of the unpaved section, the break didn¹t survive. I guess a guyflatted and Nelson the third guy couldn¹t keep the pace. We absorbed themand it was good to see a DBC guy in the pack. I was concentrating so hardthat I didn¹t realize we lost a substantial portion of the pack in unpavedsection and the rest of the DBC riders. A Z-Team rider was organizing thepack to echelon to separate us from the chase group. At certain points therewere about half dozen guys working a echelon but it never got superorganized. I guess enough to keep us out front. I was just trying to survivethis 5.5 mile stretch in the wind with this group. At times I thought I wasburning the match at both ends and soon I would pop. We made the last turnoff of W.R. And got the tailwind. I knew this was good because I couldfinally get some rest for my legs. At certain points Nelson and myself weredriving the train. At one point I told him that I wasn¹t sure I could dragmyself through the unpaved with the group. We made that final turn into theunpaved section and I did as before. I was at the front and then driftedback 6-12 guys getting a draft and conserving energy. I found my line andstuck to it. I ended up making it through with the front group. I tried toget some drafts to recover from the dirt. The pace was slow at first, 11mphat one point I think. The pace started picking up and I found myself on the left turning onto W.R.And a strong cross/head wind. After a bit of this I decided to drive upfront and saw Nelson driving it. I got in next to him to protect him fromthe wind and give him a rest. From there we tried to drive it home, tradingon and off being in the wind. I really didn¹t know it until the end but webroke 15-20 riders into two groups of 7 and 8-13. We crested the last hilland Nelson said he would lead me out. I thought I felt good but as soon aswe hit the last uphill to the finish, I went over some rough road, shifted afew gears lower and thought my legs were going to give out. I wanted tofinish with the pack but they were driving it, Nelson looked back and Icould only shake my head that I wasn¹t going to make it up with those sixguys. It may have been psychological (being the second race) or fatigue. Idrifted back and looked to see how much of a gap I had on the other riders.It was a good gap and I wasn¹t going to let them overtake me. I finished bymyself but in seventh place and ahead of that group. Rod also tells me thatI probably finished 1st amongst the Cat 5. Good race guys and thanks for the support. Lessons Learned:1. I am strong enough to ride with 4s.2. I need better climbing legs for uphill finishes into the wind.3. I need to leave my guts on the road at the finish.4. DBC is a great group to ride with.
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