USGP - 12/5

The USGP is a national series that ends in Portland. In years past, I would go to watch the pros and other team-mates since it was so late in the season. I had to do it with nationals the week afterwards. I figured I would do it in the "open" masters field. Then I would have 2 weekends in a row of getting my a$$ kicked.

You see, I've been racing the master B category this year in the Cross Crusade. The next group up is the A field. These are the guys that have either been racing for years and have tons of experience in their legs or they have lots of time to train during the year. Basically, they are way faster than me. So why am I even bothering? Well, the B race at nationals is on a Thursday - can't do that, so I needed to sign up for the "open" category for my age group. I knew that I would struggle in this group, but it's always good to push yourself and get some good experience. BTW, you know you're in a tough group when the national bike rag has a story on one of your competitors (cool to see a story on a masters racer).

USGP was in a similar boat. The B race was at like 8am in the morning! Forget that!!! The "open" 35-45 age group was a 12:30. A good thing since it was WAY COLD that morning. I go there about 10am and it was freezing. There were a couple team-mates racing at that time. I found the warm-up tent, got my number, and packed my gear over to the tent. They gave us a timing chip and numbers for our shoulders - how pro. I started "warming up" about 90 minutes before my race just to prevent myself from freezing!

I was able to get a lap on the course about 11:15am. That was one of the first times I did that this year, but it was important since I've never raced this particular course at PIR before. The mud was greasy. I didn't pay attention on 1 corner and "ate it". Great, mud on my number even before the race started. Good thing they gave me an extra! Got to line up at a national caliber race "looking good".

The sun came out and things warmed up just before my race. Calls up were based on national points and registration order. I started in the back of the field which was fine with me. The course was about 2.5 miles. My key goal was not to get lapped since you get "pulled" from the race if you get lapped by the leaders. I held on pretty well the first lap, but these guys were smoking fast. I rode my own race - strong on the straights and finesse in the corners. I was competing with the guys I recognized at the the back of the field.

The top 2 or 3 riders caught me on the end of the very last lap. So, I didn't get pulled. I stayed upright the entire time. I placed 83 out of 98 riders. Obviously, not a great result, but I'm happy I raced, had a great time, and got some cool photos.

Photos courtesy of OregonVelo. These guys take great photos.