THE FIRST TIME

OVER THE YEARS, I'VE BEEN TO A LOT OF RACES.  I've always wanted to do what I did today, but had never done it.

It's always been... 

Go to my race, go home.

or

Go to my race, hang out for a bit, go home.

But, today it was...

Be the first one at the venue... because I spent the night there.  Watch a few races.  Do my race.  Watch the rest of the races.  Catch up with a lot of my friends I don't see often enough.

It was fun to see so many people having fun racing bicycles.  More than just my peers.  From what I could tell all got their money's worth.  They were challenged.  Some won.  Most didn't.  But, it didn't seem to matter.

One of the winners was my friend Doug.  He took off on the last lap, the same exact spot he took off on 2 years ago.  That time we caught him about 30' before the finish line.  Today when he jumped ahead of the group, I was hoping he'd make it... granted, we raced in a combined race today and we weren't in the same group otherwise I met have felt different... but, to his credit, he went for it.  Did a massive solo attack with about 5 miles to go and made it stick.

Personally, I had a great day.  After being sick last week, and not being able to ride much I was not sure how I'd do.  My strategy was pretty simple... wait until the last possible second, then go.  It worked pretty darn good.

My buddy Dave Letttieri, finished right behind me.  Woulda been even cooler if he'd been able to stick around for the photo.