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Hudson 2 Highlands |
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Team Bikeman -
Race Reports
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Written by Art DeGraw
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Thursday, 10 May 2007 |
Hudson 2 Highlands
Campmor Race Series #1, Wawayanda Spring Cleaning
Hewitt, NJ
May 6, 2007
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The season opener of the Hudson 2 Highlands Regional, Wawayands Spring Cleaning race, turned out to be a tough one. After only a few hours of sleep (downstairs neighbors celebrated Cinco de Mayo into the morning hours) and a couple more in the car we arrived at Wawayanda State Park pretty tired. Having driven nearly 3 hours though I was determined to register and race. It is nice to be in the Semi-Pro Class now, start times are later and we can leave at a decent hour in the morning.
Lake Wawayanda was a beautiful location for a race setting. It was rather cold even at a noon start time or a postponed 12:45 start time. Sometimes I wonder what the point of warming up properly is, I don't think I have been to more than 1 or 2 races with an on time start time. Would have been nice to take the extra time to get a preride in. The course was a mix of fast double track and single track with some rock garden type sections, the type that just makes you not look forward to doing it again on the subsequent laps.
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I should have known it was going to be a bad day when on the first climb on the very first lap I crashed and took out the rider behind me. For the whole race I just couldn't get "on top of the bike". My Salsa El Santo wanted to go faster but my body said no, Bronchitis and a second round of Antibiotics still in the system. All in all though, I just plain got beat. My lap times were decreasing for the first 3 laps as I and 3 other riders mingled together for some common moral support. This was my first race in the semi-pro category and it was nice to see that these guys are actually out there having a good time still and they were great to ride with. After the 3rd lap I began to bonk and missed my wife's feed zone hand off going out for the final lap. This was the makings of a long last lap 2 hours in and no fluids. No liquids for me but she did get a great picture instead. After almost 2.5 hours in the saddle I finally, with much relief, crossed the finish line. So much for a training race, I pushed a bit too hard and hit the wall. I am not sure where in the group I finished but it was not near the front. Only one direction to go for the rest of the season, to the front!
On a fantastic note of improvement, I had no knee pain. This was the first hard ride since surgery nearly a year ago that I did not have knee pain. I'm determined to have a good season yet.
Art |
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; "clickto enlarge")
; "clickto enlarge")
