South Knoxville Road Race

This morning bright and early found me in Knoxville with eight of the women on my beginning race team. We were suited up with temporary jerseys and ready to ride. Looking at the field we all felt pretty good, but soon we discovered what bike racing is like from the inside.

In this race, all the women started together. Now, there are different categories, from Cat 4 (beginner) up to Cat 1 (pro). Sometimes they'll add women's Masters (age 35 and up) as its own category, but not this one. Anyway, we started up trying to keep together but.. well we also wanted a presence in the front group. So, when the front surged ahead, I stayed with them, as did several of my teammates. A few miles in I realized we'd lost a few of our girls, but had some of the stronger ones there with me so I got up to the front few of the women and ran a few brief experiments in controlling the pack. They worked, so I backed off and checked with my teammates. I told them I'd do what I could to work the field for them as long as possible, but this would mean sacrificing my ability to finish in the front. My plan was to have one of them come in at the end, surge up and take the win. If done right, the two of them should be relatively fresh from drafting and simply staying back.

My plan mostly worked. In the end, one of my teammates took 2nd Cat 4 position. I am not certain if I was 5th or 6th Cat 4, but I was hurting. I learned a great deal on the fly this morning, and I certainly didn't finish last, which was the Plan B. All in all, a damn fine race.

Oh yeah, and pictures are forthcoming.