Ocala Road Races - Last Race Weekend Of the Year

Well the road racing season has come to an end. We kicked off the end of the year with fun races and memories to keep the competitive juices flowing until next season.

We woke up at 4:30 and arrived at the race while it was still dark. While groggily walking through the field where we parked I couldn't help but wonder if I was stepping in grass or cow pies. Luckily it was grass.

After a good warm up I was really excited to race. My legs felt great and I couldn't wait to start.

The women 1,2,3 raced with the 55+ men, and the women cat 4. We did 2 laps on the 12 mi course. The course was rolling with no major hills.

And we're off: The first lap was not so eventful. There were a couple attacks but nothing got away. Tina Elliot and Katie DeGoursey ( the two power houses of the weekend ) controlled the field. I made one attack while trying to bridge a gap. I got chased by Tina and was shuffled back into the field.

While we came around to complete the first lap Katie attacked at the base of the final hill. A masters rider in front of me started to react and I followed him. He did a hard pull then rotated. I accelerated and pulled hard over the top of the hill. I flicked my elbow and looked around but no one was there. I put my head down and hammered down the hill. I had closed the gap to about 50 meters but then she looked back and picked up the pace. I matched her for a little bit but I couldn't close the gap. I let up and was soon caught by the field.

We caught Katie about 2 mi later. For the next 7 mi attacks went but nothing stuck. I felt pretty good but I wasn't sure how I would do on the down hill finish.

We came up to around 2 mi to go. Elizabeth Morse Hill and Tina had moved up to the front and I tried to follow. As we came up to the final hill I was 4th wheel behind Elizabeth. All the riders behind us were starting to get antsy and trying to move up. I had good positioning for the sprint but couldn't match the speed. I ended up getting swarmed and finished towards the back of the pack.

I had really good legs and was stoked for the next race. While driving home I decided to do the juniors race in addition to the womens race.

Bright and early at 4:30 again. This time I was a little more sleepy. Which showed in the fact that I managed to forget the already filled water bottle in the fridge. I had to bum a bottle off a friend at the race (Thanks Will!!!!).

We had a 12 mi flat course today. A couple of the corners were sketchy but for the most part the roads were pretty decent. It was in the shape of a lollipop so we only passed the start line at the start and the finish. The juniors race had 1 lap and the womens/masters 55+ race had 2 laps.

Junior Race: After some trash talking at the line from some guys I usually train with I was pumped up for the race. The group was smaller than normal. The big team from Miami had decided to skip the race so the group had abut 10 riders missing. This included some of the fastest juniors.

Right from the gun team Colivita set the pace. With 3 riders they were the only "team" in our race. Everyone followed and the group stayed together. A couple of the 17-18 riders went to the front and picked up the pace. I stayed at the back and marked the wheel I wanted, Steven Ruznak. He wins just about all the junior races and is wicked strong.

About 6 mi into the race, one of the 17-18 riders attacked and got a good sized gap. Right about then a 15-16 Colivita rider got a flat.

The field started to rotate and was trying to pull back the lone leader who had about a 20 sec gap. I got shuffled to the front and did a hard pull. I pulled off after 30 sec and about 1 min later it as "groupo compacto".

For the next 3 mi we kept a steady tempo but we were all looking around to see who would make the next move. It came from a 17-18 rider. No one really responded and soon he had a good sized gap. A chase started to organize but it wasn't very effective. Soon people started to counter to try bridge the gap. Soon the 4 17-18 riders were off the front and it was down to myself and 4 other 15-16's.

Our pace soon slowed to about 15 mph. I was getting bored and decided it would be fun to do a couple attacks to open my legs. I would get a gap but they pulled me back. With about 3 mi to go I decided to go back to marking Steven's wheel. I managed to take it from 2 other riders who were starting to bump for it. I sat on Steven's wheel until we came to the final corner and I sat up.

It was a fun race and a good warm up. It's always fun to go out and beat up on the boys a little. ;-P

The womens race started soon after my first race ended. We had sat at the line for about 10 minutes and my legs had tightened up a little bit. About 5 min into the race my legs had loosened up again. For the first lap I marked Katie and Tina's wheels. I managed to get off the front with Katie once but Tina had soon chased us down.

The rest of the first lap was fairly uneventful. A couple attacks but nothing stuck.

About 2 mi into the first lap Katie attacked and Tina followed. No one reacted and I had gotten myself boxed in. By the time the field reacted they were a little ways up the road. The women wouldn't get together and start a chase and the two leaders were getting further and further away.

In the next mile there were many attacks by masters riders. I followed most of them in hopes catching the leaders, but no luck. Everything got pulled back.

After that about 5-7 masters riders went to the front and set the pace. They kept it at around 25 mph.

As we came up to the turn that would take us back to the start line a spectator yelled that the leaders had 1'30" on the field. I started to set up for the sprint. A few women had gone to the front and picked up the pace. I found my way to Elizabeth's wheel and was glued to it.

In the last 1 1/2 mi I started to cramp. I took a gel in a frantic attempt to get fuel to my legs. We came up to the final corner but there was a car in the inside. Most of the field hit the brakes and I ended up making an awkward turn and tried to sprint but my legs tightened up. I sat down and tried to hammer to the line. I ended up getting around 6th.

Over all it was a great weekend of racing. I'm already looking forward to next years season and look forward to hopefully racing some cyclocross during the off season.

Thanks for reading!

Ciao