Racing

Let's start off by saying that I am NOT a sprinter. I'm a decent long distance cyclist, but racing isn't really in my skill set. Nevertheless I rode in my first cycling race this past Wednesday at Grattan Raceway. One of the local bike clubs, the Rapid Wheelmen, organizes races there every week throughout the summer. During the month of August they've added a "C" classification to the normal "A" and "B" races. The "C" race was three laps on the 1.8 mile course. That's only 5.4 miles. How hard could that be? Plenty hard.
Wednesday was JDRF night so there a lot of our team mates were there to ride or help out. The night started with a tandem race. Possibly a first ever at Grattan. Two of the three tandems were ridden by JDRFers. Next came the "C" race. I stayed with the pack until the start on the final lap. I don't know what our average speed was, but when I got dropped I was doing 21 mph. Even though I was beaten by almost everyone (including my 16 year old son Ian) I didn't finish in last place. A small non-victory.
The "A" and "B" races got going next. Those guys and gals are really fast. We had four JDRF riders in the "B" group. Unfortunately there was a crash early on in the 16 lap race that took out three of our riders. Luckily no one was seriously injured and the bikes are all repairable.
Even with the crash and my lousy finish it was a great experience. I can now cross "Bike Race" off my bucket list.

Great sunset at the end of a great night at Grattan raceway.