You may be right, I may be crazy...

Sunday, 14 May, 2006, 13:01

Yesterday was quite a fun day. It all started out with a drive into Los Gatos for the Cat's Hill Classic bike race. Since my race was first, I had to get there relatively ealy, around 8:00am. My dad went with me, so he could take some pictures and watch some of the races, and take my car home if I was motivated enough to go for a long ride afterwards.

After waiting in line at registration, I put on my cycling clothes and went for a warm-up ride. That was all of 7 miles at a moderate to slightly elevated pace. I felt that I was ready to go, so at 9:15, I was in the staging area, ready for my first bike race ever.

From the starting whistle, I knew I was in trouble when most of the field went sprinting past me. I was thinking, this is Cat 5? For the first couple of laps, I could see the main field stretched out in front of me. But Cat's Hill has a tough reputation, and for a really good reason. That short, 23% grade hill in the middle of the 1-mile loop really shuts you down. On the third lap, there was a crash in front of me, and I wasn't able to shift into a low enough gear. At the point I was really screwed, as it took far too long to get up the hill on that lap. I tried working with another rider to make up lost ground, but we were just too far back, and ended up getting pulled after the sixth lap. Oh well, at least I had my first taste of the world of bike racing.



After all that, I was still psyched to go for a ride, but I stayed around for a while, recovering and watching the Cat 4, as well as the junior, race. It's amazing how much faster cycling looks when you're not in the race. And now I've got something to train for.




After going in for more coffee and a scone, I got back on my bike and rode into Saratoga. There, I fueled up with an Odwalla super protein drink, and finished my scone. And then, it was on up highway 9. I actually felt quite good, riding to my third fastest time going up, and my fastest so far this year. Maybe there is hope of someday getting down into the low 30s. = )

When I got up to Castle Rock, I was just going to lock my bike up and find some of my friends who were climbing, but they were just coming out of the park, to go in to the Indian Rock side of the road, so I went over and climbed with them for a few hours. I didn't really have the energy to do much, but it was still fun to hang out. Towards 6:30, I had to get out, so I wouldn't have to ride too much after dark. I bombed down the hill in into Saratoga, and then over to a friend's house for poker, beer and pizza.

All in a day's fun. = )