Tuesday, August 20, 2013

The Start Into My Amateur Bicycle Racing Career

Chapter 1: My first races... At the end of last year I was pretty frustrated with my auto racing career. I did get on a few TV shows and did some great interviews but still no sponsors. I has been toying with the idea of focusing on cycling more to get into better shape so I just went for it. A bunch of the guys on my weekend morning group rides (Mike's Ride in Fort Lauderdale) wanted to do a Criterium in Cooper City FL at Brian Piccolo Park. A criterium is a short track race, usually .5-1 mile in length over a time period. Usually 45 minutes plus 3 laps or so. It was January and the weather was great so we were on! We rode out to the track and lined up with what seemed like hundreds of people to race...kinda nerve wracking! Not to mention the Cat 3 race before ours had a pretty big crash at the finish...one guy walked away with a destroyed bike and his lycra was almost completely ripped off his body! We started the race and circulated at a fast pace riding super close to each other minding the pedals in the corners and watching the wheels to be sure no one touched...I ended up finishing mid pack....pretty uneventful. But I did it...my first official road bike race I had raced BMX bikes and mountain bikes but now road bikes! That set the tone for me choosing a race series and a goal. After some research I found the Bill Bone Floridacycling.com road race series. This series goes all over the state doing Road Races, Criteriums and Time Trials. Looked like fun and they had some cool year end prizes up for grabs to the series winners. Now I started racing road bikes in a class called Category 5 (Cat 5=beginners-first year racers to Cat 1=Pro-experts). There are a few choices as to where to start racing as there are also Masters classes(Age dependent 35+ cat 4 and 5, 35+ Cat1-3, 50+ and 60+ not to mention all the youth classes). I decided Cat 5 was for me as I am a true beginner and there were some pretty fast people in there as I am an old guy compared to many of my fellow racers. I am happy I did. My first race was in San Antonio and Dade City Florida (west coast north of Tampa near Zephyrhills). This race is called The Race for Humanity as it benefits East Pasco Habitat for Humanity. David and I loaded up the dogs, bikes and food into the RV and headed north not knowing what to expect....I love an adventure! I had my bike serviced and a new chain installed to try and be sure there would be no mechanical issues. Ha! Never work on your race vessel right before a race...test it and make sure everything is operational before lining up... We arrived at the campground to find someone in our spot so we just took another one. It was a strange place...like staying in someone's yard. Anyways we drove to the site of the road race in San Antonio and got settled into a parking spot and watched the people roll in. It was a beautiful experience watching the timing and scoring people show up and what seemed like instantly put up a finish line that seemed to rival a Pro Tour event finish! (Thanks Topview Sports!) and to see all the beautiful people arrive with their beautiful bikes as everyone seems to have pride in their bikes and bodies. I went out to warm up and found my chain skipping in the lower gears. With no time to really fix it or even diagnose it I lined up for the start. They gave us a short speech about the yellow line rule (do not cross it!), the wheel truck (for spare wheels in case of flats) and how long the race is as well as the be nice speech. We were off! It was surreal going up and down the hills of the area (a very hilly and beautiful part of Florida!) at speeds approaching 50 MPH millimeters from each other! I soon realized if I downshifted too far for the up hill sections my chain would jump and try and fall off. The race was (2) 17 mile laps. At the end of the first lap I decided to have a go at breaking away (silly newbie!). Me and another rider took off at 35 MPH down the front straight into turn 1 and got down the road pretty good. The problem was the whole pack chased and were not far behind. The pace motorcycle came by and said there was someone more than a minute up the road (he broke away earlier)! We just got back into the pack. As the pace increased towards the end of the second and final lap I found it harder and harder to keep my chain from jumping so I had to keep it in a big gear...not good for the hills. I was able to stay in the lead group up until the last few hills when I started cramping out...I watched the pack go over the last crest just ahead of me and there was nothing I could do but watch. Pretty disappointing considering how strong I felt up to that point. Oh well there is always tomorrow! I finished 25th or so... The next day was a bit chilly but sunny and nice. The Criterium was in downtown Dade City. The streets were closed around the town center and we were the show! I had no idea road racing took place in places with events like this! Fun to watch and accessible to everyone! There were cake shops and coffee shops to sit in and watch the live racing action just feet away! We lined up and were off. The race went down a side street that was paved with bricks and consisted of a bunch of 90 degree corners and curbs. This race would turn into a blood sport! There were a few wipe outs then a really big one right in front of me! I was able to sneak by on the curb and get around it but there were quite a few people laying on the pavement. In this case if you go down in a wreck you can get to the starting line and get a free lap to get back into the race, which many did. Here is a link to a really cool video by Steve Mace (the eventual winner): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5F-YwtzLL8 The wreck happens at 6:23 and if you look clos you see me pop over the curb and continue... #514. I was stuck in 1 gear as my attempts to fix the bike failed (my chain actually fell off at one point and I was able to get it back on and catch up) and I was working as hard as I could in the closing laps. One guy, an avid mountain biker, made a break for it (he was bloodied up from the wreck) and we all tried to catch him on the closing laps. He was able to get away for good and won it! I came around the corner for the final stretch (200 meters or so) in 2nd place. I sprinted as hard as I could but got passed by a bloodied up 16 year old junior racer (he was very fast) in the final sprint. I got my first podium!
What a great way to start my racing series! This set me up for the second race...The Chain of Lakes Cycling Classic! This race would be a road race, criterium and a time trial. Stay tuned...