Mad Cow Classic

Christine and I had a great time racing at the Mad Cow Classic in Grand Junction. This year my race category had grown from last year's handful of people to about 25 people and as a result we got to race by ourselves instead of being mixed in with the collegiate groups.

The race started off slow (as to be expected for a 60 mile race) and it remained that way until we reached the first major climb. The pace of the climb put a hurting on some people, including myself, but I was able to stay with the leaders and after a short downhill I used my momentum to move to the front of the group. It was a bit odd to be riding at the front of the race, but it was kind of nice because it allowed me to recover at a tempo of my choosing. I wanted to get off the front but nobody was willing to get at the front of the group and do some work. I have NEVER ridden with a lazier group of people. I went so far as to pull way over and sit up , but the person behind me was just unwilling to take the lead. I was getting close to verbally chastising him, when I realized that there were some downhill corners coming up, and it would be to my advantage to be at the front.

I stayed on the front or near the front for most of the rest of the race. Being near the front was fun. :) Shortly before the second to last major climb, I saw someone take off. I had been watching him through the race, and thought that he might be making the winning move. I decided to hop on his wheel, but he sputtered out. Shortly after that climb, another person attacked and I didn't think he had the strength to say away. In my head I was telling myself that I can't hop on every break, so I let him go. Oops, that was the winning move and it was a race for second for the rest of us.. I found some energy on the final major climb to launch an attack. It felt great to be able put on hurtin' on some people like that. A small group caught me on the downhill and there we were speeding towards the line. Again, some people were unwilling to work which is extremely frustrating when you're trying to make your break "stick", but eventually we got people working together and our break stayed away until the finish. I wasn't exactly sure where the finish line was and ended up starting my sprint waaaaay to early. It's a tactical mistake that I'll have to learn from, but I'm still pretty happy with my 5th place finish. I felt like I rode a strong race and it feels like my pack riding skills are getting better. I can't wait to do this race next year.