My road race today went better than I expected, but I had to call on the time trial experience I gained last weekend. The women started in a group with the juniors and the master's men (over 50). That is unusual to start those groups together, but I did enjoy being part of a large pack for once. Usually there are only 10-15 women in a race so we do not make up a large pack.

I decided to hang with the men as long as I could. That lasted about 9 or 10 miles, then I did the rest of the race alone. The first 8 mile lap took about 20 minutes, so we averaged around 24 mph, before I got dropped. I knew there were a few women in the group ahead of me when I got dropped but that most of them were behind me. I kept looking back from time to time to see if any women behind me were getting close, but never did see any. I finished 2nd in my category, of out 9 women, and 5th overall, out of 12 women. I think my average speed was around 20.8 mph. It was kind of a boring race since I did not have much to occupy my mind other than trying to ride as hard as I could in the heat of summer, and wondering at times why I voluntarily chose this hobby.

Tonight I did a 4 mile time trial and as usual, I sucked at this type of race. I think my average speed was around 22.5 mph. I will find out tomorrow where I placed.

Tomorrow morning is my favorite type of race, the criterium. Looking forward to it and I will give a report when I get back in town.