Hey everyone,
This is a race report of the final event of DFW weekend, the Jesuit Ranger Roundup. Unfortunately I woke up late because of some confusion over daylight savings time. Thus, we had to leave the apartment 15 minutes after we woke up, so I woke Joseph up and we hurried over to the race course.
We arrived in time to register and get ready. I decided to try my luck in the C’s race this time, so I asked the conference director to give me an upgrade. This would put me in a faster and longer category for today’s race. As Joseph was helping me pin our numbers up, we saw a pack of riders lining up to start, and he asked me if they were the Collegiate D group. At first we thought it was the juniors, but I recognized the riders in the pack and it was definitely the D group. Joseph had missed the start! So I told him to just grab his bike and hurry over there so as to not fall behind. The first couple of miles of the race were neutralized, so he had no problem coming back.
I had about an hour to spare before my start time, so I used it to study for my Government exam, as well as keep warm since it was around 45 degrees outside due to daylight savings. As I stayed inside my van, Sean and the other team members arrived to get ready. Soon, the officials called my group to go line up. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my extra set of wheels, so if I were to get a flat in the race, it would all be over. However, I wasn’t too concerned because the roads were pretty smooth and I had good tires, so the likelihood of a flat was very small.
In Collegiate cycling the Women’s B group starts together with the Men’s C. The two groups usually ride together in the neutralized zone, but afterward the men usually pull away from the women. It was nice to have them on board for a little while though because they can be fun to talk to. Anyways, the race started and we were off. The two Texas Tech guys who finished 2nd and 3rd at the A&M road race had also catted up and were racing with me. They’re actually pretty good, as they’ve gotten some good results in the C races already.
When the neutralized zone ended, the men broke away from the women and the race was on. After about 5 miles an attack occurred off the front and I decided to follow. When I bridged up to the group, they slowed down and the peloton caught us. The pace of the first lap was pretty fast. I was getting sore as we climbed up the hills but I was still able to hang on. When the second lap started another attack occurred, and I decided to bridge up. But again, they slowed down and we got caught.
Towards the end of the second lap we took a sharp right-hand turn and an acceleration happened in the group. I soon found myself hanging off the back and I got dropped as my splinter group tried to catch the pack. I had no idea what happened in the front for the rest of the race…
I decided to ride at my own pace so as to not blow up for the rest of the race. I contemplated quitting after the second lap, but I saw another rider struggling to keep up with the group ahead of me. I thought that if I tried hard, I could catch him and we could work together so as to not be alone. Thus, I gave it my best and did a personal time trial of about 8 miles in order to catch that guy. I was really digging in deep and when I was coming close, I saw him pass another guy who happened to be one of the remnants of the Masters category (age 35+). At first I thought that man was a collegiate rider so I was delighted at the thought of three of us working together. However, when I looked at his bib number I found out he was not collegiate, and thus we could not work with him since it’s against the rules.
Thus, when I saw the collegiate rider in my sight, I yelled at him to wait up. I’m not sure if he heard me, but I finally bridged up to him and took over the pacemaking. The rider happened to be Oliver Rivera of the University of Houston, and he rode in the C group last year, so it was good to have a more experienced rider with me. He told me that the C group this year was much harder than it was last year. It’s probably the way it is because of the creation of the new D group, which would contain the majority of last year’s C’s. To balance the other groups out, the lower B riders of last year would now be in this year’s C group, making the competition steeper.
Me and Oliver Rivera hanging off the back…
On the final lap we were about to be passed by the A’s. When I saw them coming by us, I was surprised to not see Sean anywhere in the group, so I had no idea where he went…Anyways, the rest of the race was pretty uneventful as Oliver and I took turns pacing. At the end of the race Oliver sprinted ahead and I decided not to contest the finish, though in retrospect I probably should have just to practice.
So, my first race as a C rider was pretty disappointing. There were a lot of things I did wrong, as I did not drink or eat enough during the race. Furthermore, as I said earlier my cornering skills aren’t spectacular. I think if I had stayed with the pack at that sharp hand turn, I could of held on for a few more miles. Anyways, I’ve decided to move back down to D’s in order to gain more experience, and ride in a group of riders with whom I can compete.
When I came back I met up with Joseph and we decided to go home. He told me that while his race wasn’t great, he did make it back to the pack and was able to finish ahead of a few riders. I don’t have too much info about what happened in the B race, but I heard that Ken Day was able to get into a winning breakaway containing a few riders. I think Roy Bracey got the better of Ken in that race since he won. Ken Day got fourth, disappointing for him, but I think he had a very good weekend.
Sean Kearns represented us in the Mens A.