After some injuries and down weekends, racing resumed last weekend for me at the Canton Cup on Saturday. After a few weeks of recovering and building back up, I was really looking forward to racing, not to mention, there were at least 4 of us that would be there, and when Comp Racing travels in a pack, it's always fun! The first race of the day would see Jay C, Dan C and myself, race in the Cat 4s. Canton is definitely not the best course for me because its a raw power course with very few technical features except for a few dismounts. Jay, Dan and I lined up in the "race to the race" mayhem that is the Canton start and ended up about midway through the field of 135ish riders. And we were off! After a relatively incident free start, the race actually stayed together for much of the first lap, which kept passing opportunities to a minimum. I had a good 1st lap and was able to watch Jay and Dan slowly creeping up on me as the course would turn back on itself. That's great motivation to keep pedaling hard! Jay would catch me at the end of the 2nd lap and as always, he crushed me with about 3 pedal strokes and was gone! That boy can go fast! I would hold onto my position for the last lap and finish 60th out of 130 finishers. Jay would finish about 10 spots in front and Dan just behind me. The next race would be Capt P lined up with the 45+ Masters... Those guys are FAST! After a questionable start and almost getting run off the course, Patrick would recover and ultimately pick his way back up through the field to finish in the top 30. Somehow, we all had the bright idea of racing 2 races each at Canton. The second race would be the Cat 3-4s. Having raced a few 3-4 races in my day, my only goal of these races is simple. Finish on the lead lap...
We all started in the back row so as not to disrupt those people who weren't there just for another social ride. The funny thing about this race was that it didn't spread out as quickly as I thought it would and it seemed like we were in one long conga line for the first lap! Patrick worked his way up in the group pretty quickly and after a lap of hanging out together, Jay would once again pedal away from me... But this time I was not alone. Dan "Super" Cooper was right there with me! We battled for the last 3 laps of the race, back and forth, back and forth until we finished in what can only be described as one of the slowest uphill sprints in the history of cycling... IT WAS AWESOME!!!! We finished 101st and 102nd!
So, you ask, what is so awesome about finishing 101st and 102nd? It was awesome because having friends out there to cheer you on and encourage you to push harder just makes the pain that much more bearable! Dan, Patrick, Jay and I have spent a fair amount of time riding bikes this year together and I say riding bikes, only because, while we may be in a race while we are in the act of riding, we all have realized that unless we are having fun, it's really not worth it! We road almost every Saturday since May, road every Sunday from mid-August until the end of September, and in all that time, we focused on one thing... enjoying each others company and just having fun. Riding a bike is something we have done since we were kids... And when we were kids it was all about having fun! There were no power meters, no heart rate monitors, no training plans... just pure fun. While we all like to do our best, there is no gloating, no badgering, just some friendly heckling. And that is what racing with friends is all about. Just pure fun... So I would remind everyone, if it's not a job, make sure you are having fun, because while it may hurt while you are racing, if you aren't smiling deep down inside, you are doing it wrong! See you on the roads and trails!
K
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