My First Race

Hello,

I participated in my very first bicycle race on Sunday, March 29. It was called the "Piece of Cake Road Race" and was sanctioned by OBRA, the Oregon Bicycle Racing Association. I raced as a CAT 5, the lowest level possible. I could have raced as a "Master", meaning over 40, but I chose to race with all ages of rookies. I had a great time and finished 9th out of about 40 who started.

What I was happiest about was my ability to stay on the wheel of some of these guys who had a lot of racing experience. I was never dropped. I did a lot of work at the front of the pace line and even had another rider thank me for all of my work at the front. There was a pretty bad crash involving several riders right in front of me, but I was able to react and avoid crashing myself. I had the wits to immediately accelerate and put a large group behind me, thus joining the front runners. I think I could have finished a little higher if I had made a stronger move at the "One Kilometer" flag.

I never imagined that I would start racing bicycles, but I had such a good time I have decided to continue doing it. Tuesday nights from April through August, OBRA hosts racing at PIR. the racetrack near the airport. So I will use those races to increase my possibility of actually finishing the Race Across Oregon in July, which is what all this is about.

I did about 30-40 minutes of yoga after the race and felt great later that day and the next. I took the following day off from training (it was an off day with or without the race) and hit the trainer this morning. I must say I felt fantastic this morning. The yoga as a recovery jump start is so effective I wonder why every bicycle racer in the world doesn't make it a focus of their training. I had no sore spot anywhere but the insertion point of my hamstrings, behind my glutes. And a good round of Eka Pada Raja Kapotasana (pigeon pose) done Yin Yoga style did the trick there.

Now, I am off to bed for another 5 AM start in the garage, on the trainer. I can't wait for the weather to improve enough for me to do the majority of my miles outside.

Bye for now,

Namaste,

Jim