Henleyville RR-Sept. 2012-Cat 45+ 1/2/3

Henleyville Road Race
73 miles
Andrew, Daryoush, JP (report written by Andrew)
Cat 45+ 1/2/3 Report:

My hamstrings were starting to cramp, my knees hurt, and my butt was sore. I am not sure I am going to make it. This was hard! I am three hours in and still have another hour or more to go. Crap. No turning back now. I put my head down and concentrate. It’s no good, I can’t do it. I turn to Daryoush and ask him to pull off at the next exit. I have to take a leak.

This is a crazy commute. Daryoush and I were on our way to the Henleyville Road Race. A 73 mile slightly rolling but mostly flat race consisting of four laps over chip sealed, vibration inducing roads. The drive there took us slightly over four hours. This is a commitment to crazy, not just a deviation into it. I have raced 26 times this year, not counting the two tri’s I also jumped in. I understand that there is some issue here. I am sure if you dig (some may say you don’t need to dig that far) you will find some major personality flaw that drives this sort of behavior. I have enough self-awareness to know this, but not enough to do anything about it. So there it is; 28 races for the 2012 season and I am still bummed out that there is no more racing to do.

I think we have found the real reason I started this team. It was to find other crazies like me. The big benefit is that it normalizes my behavior. When I talk to non-cyclists, they seem to view my stories with a strange look of confusion, pity and disgust. I am asked why I do this, why I want to drive four plus hours one way to flog myself in some backwoods location. It is a hard question to answer. I tend to smile, nod and look for someone else to talk too. So now you know why I started this team and why you are on it. I don’t get asked this question and even more, I get guys who volunteer to drive with me. Now this is why I love this group.

Daryoush, John Pauley and myself lined up for the 45+ 1/2/3 race. Mike McLaughlin and Mark Dames were racing a bit later in a different category. We had a great time Friday night talking biking over some beers and margaritas. We figured that made the most sense for pre race hydration. Next morning we met up at the Best Western's complimentary food bar to carbo load for our race. Take note new racers, this is how you fuel up to road race.

Regarding the race, well, to sum it up, race started, some guys tried to break (including Daryoush in a two man break) but none were getting anywhere. Then Dirk (one of the five or six mutants I have mentioned in previous reports) had enough of the chit chat and road away from us. Sure, there were still 50 miles to race, but Dirk wanted some alone time. Who were we to question what a mutant wants? So, we acquiesced and watched him seek solitude up the road. He quickly vanished and from what I was later told, crossed the line in first place. Nice racing with you Dirk, certainly enjoyed those deep conversations we were able to have in the first 15 minutes.

Now that he was gone, the rest of us could play bike racers. We did our best at pretending to break away from the group and then being pulled back. We did some mock chasing and had brilliant conversations. Then at the start/finish line with one lap to go, Daryoush had had enough of this silly game playing and decided to flat. He soon regretted his decision though, tried to fix his flat and chase back on. He never did make it all the way, but he did enjoyed his time alone and was able to take in the magnificent scenery.

Coming into the final three miles we were jockeying for position. With two miles left a kindly motorcycle ref stood in the middle of the road and held up a hand and the race. Yep, 71 miles done with two to go and we all took a 10 minute time out. Guess some poor soul in a race in front of us took too close a look at the pavement while finishing and was now getting a very expensive ride to the local Corning hospital. After the time out, the ref lined us up. He reminded us that we had two miles left and then said, "go". One Davis rider took off. Amazingly he thought he could sprint for two miles. He must have still been in game play mode. Another rider chased and I chased him. Davis rider, surprise, blew up with about a mile left. Then the rider in front of me tried to go and I went with him. Anyway, we got to 500 meters to go and we all sprinted and eventually crossed the finish line. I took second in the sprint and third place in the race and thus earned another coveted poorly designed Velo Promo t-shirt.

It was a fun day in the sun and a great way to end the road season.

Thanks for participating and being part of this team. It has been a blast this year to ride with you guys.