Murray State Survival

Well, the first race of the season is out of the way and without too much pain. We were racing this past weekend down at Murray State in southwestern Kentucky (almost Tennessee). That means that I was able to find a Waffle House and quench my post-race grease/salt cravings. Delicious.

The weather was by far the biggest factor in the race. It got, at absolute best, 40 degrees...but that was at the beginning of the race because the temperatures kept dropping as the race went on. It was drizzling a cold rain at the beginning that moved to a steady rain, then to a steady sleet, then to mini ice pellets that stung like crazy on my face at the end of the race. My dad said it best before the race that this was going to be one of those days where you're mind is going to be the strongest factor in finishing the race.

The other factor in the race was a decent size climb on the backside of the course about halfway through the circuit. The first two laps, overall were a pretty moderate pace. There were a few surges where I got caught out in the back and had to chase a bit to get on, but nothing too bad. The final lap was a lot more serious. The pace increased along with the crosswinds and on that climb, the field went to absolute shreds. At the top of the climb there was nothing left other than several group of 4-7 riders strung out all over. I ended up in a group of seven, including my teammate P-Crispy. That ended up getting widdled down to four of us at around 6 miles to go and at that point, I was done...I just followed wheels and held on as this goof from Cincy kept trying to attack out of our 4 man survival group. 

I ended up at around 15th or so, so not a bad result for the first race of the season. I feel I'm right where I need to be. After I crossed the line it was straight back to inside where I sat on a chair for a few minutes watching the water and ice drip off of my body. What a way to say farewell to February.