The little success I had at the nighter on this beast of a bike actually inspired me to give it a try at a real race, the Thursday night Crit at the driveway. I had to haul butt to get out there from downtown since work matters kept me later than wanted, but I made it, if a little winded and already worked a bit.  Once again, I rolled up to the line right as the race went off. This year they are offering a 4/5 Category (beginner) and being a Cat 4, I could’ve hopped in that one, but that’s not the caveman way, so I hopped in the 3/4 Race (Intermediate) instead. From the get go the race was a gut bustin effort for survival. All I could do was hang on for dear life at the end of the pack as we snaked around the course. A short course with lots of turns meant very little opportunity to recover. It also meant lots of accelerating as we came out of the turns, a demand that this clunker of a bike is not really well suited for.  I eventually caught my breath and a little bit of life in my legs, progressing to mid pack. It was short lived though as attack after attack ensued up front and took it’s toll on the slow, dropping ’em like flies, yours truly included. I didn’t have a watch, but I’d say this occurred about 28 mins into the 40 min race. I let the pack lap me and hopped back on to finish at the end of this 35+ sized field. It’s not a position I’m used to in this race series, but not a bike I’m used to racing either. I felt like the bike and I held our own just fine. Some more strength and interval training (AND SLEEP THE WEEK BEFORE) and I’ll be ready to lead the attacks before you know it. Check out a pic someone snapped from the race:

That is pretty good side view telling me that the frame is definitely too small. That is probably part of the problem too. No worries though, I’m working on finding one that will fit! It’s off to Warda this weekend for some good ‘ole XC racing. Last time I was there I won the 12 hour, so perhaps I’ll have another good showing this weekend too. We’ll see.