Wednesday night? Yes, Wednesday night. I’ve moved up to the B (3/4) races. This was, in part, a scheduling decision, as Tuesday evening would be filled with Sebastien’s soccer games, but I was also interested in seeing how these races felt. Certainly, I have a far better chance of doing well at the C races, but sitting around the Oval until 7:00 is a bit of drag, and it’s nice to know my entire evening isn’t blown.

Anyway.

21 guys lined up to race. A handful were other C race converts, which made me feel a bit more comfortable. I settled in to the back of the grid, assuming (correctly) that I would likely spend most of the race hanging out at the back. The pace was quick, I think, compared to the C races, and much more consistent. There seemed to always be someone off the front, which meant lots of chasing by the group, and lots of accelerations. At one point, the field was completely shattered, and it took a rather hard effort for me to regain the front group. In the end, a group of four got away and stayed away, thanks to some nifty blocking by the Iron City Bikes folks. I went with the group during the acceleration on the last lap, and managed to get 11th place, which doesn’t seem too terrible for my first B race. I probably could have picked up a few places had I taken my effort a bit more seriously.

Given that Iron City and UPMC had half the riders in the field, I suspect the duels during points season will be between these two, but it seems plausible for our team to latch a few breakaways, especially if both teams are represented. I’m looking forward to working with John when he returns from California.

Posted on 9 April 2009