Saturday, February 11, 2012

First race of the season!

Five brave souls came together at 6:30am this morning for our first race of the season: a virtual battle thanks to the setup at Crossfit Gordon in Fairport. They had just loaded the spring Giro course and Brent, Jochen, Nick, Steve, and myself went to battle. It was our first experience on the computrainer setup. We started peacefully, trying to get the hang of following the race. There was a constant feed of data, the most important of which was our place and the distance behind the next closest rider (to indicate whether or not we were close enough to benefit from a draft). Nick fired the first shot and the pleasantries ended. It was a constant back and forth, the drafting keeping the group tightly knit. The hills were tougher than expected, the resistance changing to match the course profile. The first time through the hills broke up the group a little until, after about 12 miles it was a 3 man battle. At 15.5 miles my tire went flat (on a trainer!) and it was down to a battle between Nick and Jochen. We decided to end the race at 20 miles to stay within our allotted time. They battled back and forth with the east side hill providing a launch pad for a final attack. Nick got a small gap but Jochen charged back, catching him right at the finish line. It was a photo finish, too close to call. Can't wait for them to upgrade and provide some firepower to Team Dorschel in the 4's. A big thanks to Crossfit Gordon: they have an excellent setup, check the out at www.crossfitgordon.com.