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Here is the somewhat abbreviated play by play. I tried to keep it short but this took on a life of its own. There will be a few installments. :-)
Early January I began contemplating a come back to the road cycling scene but kept denying my trusty steed some actual mileage until the temperatures reached levels my Florida blood could handle. Well this meant me not being on the road until sometime in April. Not to worry I was pushing around lots of weights and jumping on boxes and sometimes joining a spin class to remind my legs what I would be asking them to do again soon.
Couple weeks prior to my first race I was able to participate in a few group rides where I was able to sufficiently punish myself (and barely affect anyone else) to the point of severe droppage. Thankfully none of it was caught on YouGotDropped. So the comeback begins and I definitely wanted to show the DC local group rides that I could contribute something to the suffer meter for everyone's benefit.
First race: Chantilly Crit 35+ Open: Pack Filler
Wow, 40 other guys suited up and clipped in for a wet, windy and willy shrinking race around a non-technical course. Oh, look I got a teammate (Peter Warner) up the road. Well, let's see if I remember how to block a bunch of rabid cyclist bent on catching a breakaway. Something worked because I was cooked and my teammate stayed away and got 3rd. At this point my max effort was right at the level of being a good teammate and setting pace just fast enough that the pack wouldn't chase and the breakaway would slowly pull away.
Carl Dolan Circuit Race 35+ Open: 50th or so
Much nicer day, weather wise. Not much to do in this race except wait for a sprint but I was here to get some training in. So I covered moves and made a pathetic one or two myself.
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| Giles solo victory in 35+ Open! |
Team Bike Doctor was extremely animated in this race except for one individual who I knew should be up here trading blows with the powerhouse Harley squad. That one individual, Scott Giles, where the heck are you man. With the laps heading into the single digits I pick a good time to go after Peter Warner had just been reeled back and the pack was tired of chasing, I make a solo flier move that everyone in the peleton probably laughed at. As I was getting drug back I see a very blurry object moving up the right hand side of the road and it's my teammate Scott Giles moving at the speed of light. Well the pack was done chasing and he went on to take a very sweet victory for the team!!
Ft Richie, 35+ 3/4: 3rd, Team WON!
Holy crap what am I doing in a 4 man break with another one of my Bike Doctor brethren with 15 laps left, I am going to die! Well thanks to Brian Rist powering the break and a cadre of teammates shutting things down we stayed away. I had to dig real deep just to hang on and occasionally pull through. I lost contact with Brian with 2 laps to go. He won the race and I slumped in for 3rd. Sweet my first podium and a teammate victory!! Things were definitely improving.
... to be continued.
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