Here I sit less than one week out from my first ever road bike race. I checked out the online registration website and was shocked when I noticed that there are 41 entrants. Last night when I went to bed there were only 25. Good thing that I was able to get in when I did.
First things first though, a bit about this journey so far. Early this year my wife Tiffany and I bought a couple of brand spankin new Trek road bikes. Unfortunate for us, it was Febuary. Here in Michigan that means a whole lotta time for the bike to sit there and wait. Which in turn means a whole lotta time for me to sit there and wait. Anyway, after really wanting to get out and ride it was finally time to hit the roads. The first ride was a nice 12 mile ride around Grand Rapids. Nothing to extreme. Just trying to get a feel for the bike more less. Well I loved it. Then I got the itch to want to race really bad. So I put it in my mind that I would race the Le Tour de Mont Pleasant. At first I was looking to finish in the top 10. Respectable for my first race I thought. Not anymore. Now its on. I've trained and ridden for the past 6 weeks thinking every ride was a part of the race. 550 miles over 6 weeks is a long way to think about something like that. But I'm ready. Kinda! While I have race BMX and Mtn. bikes for the last 16 years, road racing looks like a totally different animal. Close fast racing. The biggest fear that I have is some wanker slamming on the brakes in front of me and then the pile up on top of me from behind. Not looking forward to that. The way I see it though, if I ride toward the front, with the guys that know what their doing, I should be good to go. Plus if I am up there "wheel sucking" as they say, until the last few miles, I should have enough left in the tank to pull away for the last few miles.
Yup, thats the plan. Stay toward the front for 30 miles then kick it into overdirve and start to pull away. Don't get me wrong, if the top 5 is were I finish, that'll work. Top 10, still not bad for my first race. But I'm a racer. I'm determined. I have this fire inside me that says "There is no way in hell that I'm gonna let them take the win from me. " Just not gonna happen.
