Cat 2 is a whole different ball game. Just like my just from B to A last cross season I was blown away by the speed and smoothness of the riders there. The Pro/1/2 road field is no different, I don't know why I expected it to be.
A short race report:the race was on from corner 1. 4-6 people rolled off the front but I thought it was people that had just gotten clipped on in quicker and were trying to show what they got. Nope, they're actually racing. Crap. The next lap and a half was just a steady stream of strong riders bridging up to the lead group while I struggled to hold on. Can't get dropped 3 laps in...
Soon there's 15 strong guys up the road and 15 not-so-strong guys 'chasing.' Bad combination. Eventually it just becomes two races being held at the same time. After about 15 laps our pathetic little chase group is down to 5. We get lapped and everyone is back together. 2 laps later I find myself 70 meters off the front of the group. One of my teammates watching me has a confused look on his face and I say "I have no idea what the hell I'm doing right now" as I go by. Turns out I didn't. I was promptly caught and shot off the back. In my defense, a lot more people had dropped out and I thought I was 2/3 of the way back in the field when I was really dead last. One small acceleration from the group and I'm off the back. 5 laps by myself. Overall, 19th out of 30 starters. Am I proud of my placing? Not at all. Am I happy with my race? Of course. Of all the things I take away from this race it's that I got what I asked for. In the Cat 3 races I was always tired of getting done with a race and still having half a tank left. Not the case here. I rode right at my limit and while where I'm at in my training probably played a factor I rode as hard as I could. I am happy with the result and motivated to work harder.
A short race report:the race was on from corner 1. 4-6 people rolled off the front but I thought it was people that had just gotten clipped on in quicker and were trying to show what they got. Nope, they're actually racing. Crap. The next lap and a half was just a steady stream of strong riders bridging up to the lead group while I struggled to hold on. Can't get dropped 3 laps in...
Soon there's 15 strong guys up the road and 15 not-so-strong guys 'chasing.' Bad combination. Eventually it just becomes two races being held at the same time. After about 15 laps our pathetic little chase group is down to 5. We get lapped and everyone is back together. 2 laps later I find myself 70 meters off the front of the group. One of my teammates watching me has a confused look on his face and I say "I have no idea what the hell I'm doing right now" as I go by. Turns out I didn't. I was promptly caught and shot off the back. In my defense, a lot more people had dropped out and I thought I was 2/3 of the way back in the field when I was really dead last. One small acceleration from the group and I'm off the back. 5 laps by myself. Overall, 19th out of 30 starters. Am I proud of my placing? Not at all. Am I happy with my race? Of course. Of all the things I take away from this race it's that I got what I asked for. In the Cat 3 races I was always tired of getting done with a race and still having half a tank left. Not the case here. I rode right at my limit and while where I'm at in my training probably played a factor I rode as hard as I could. I am happy with the result and motivated to work harder.
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