Madera: Stage Four, Road Race

This is a week or so late. So, I'll keep it short.

The road race was not that bad!  We lost an hour in the time change, but that did not affect my race or anything.  After packing the truck and leaving the hotel, we drove to the road race course.  Nestled in the rolling hills of Madera, the road race course was looking like a fun course.  We did 5 laps, and the hardest part was the rugged section before the rollers at the finish.  The wind wasn't blowing things apart too bad, but the road wasn't in great shape so it got interesting in that section..  People flatting here and there, dodging pot holes and what not.. I managed to not flat in the race, which allowed me to finish in the main pack.  Throughout the race, the pack dwindled down to maybe thirty riders.  It was due to a combination of flats and spitting people off the back here and there in the rough sections.  For the most part Cal Giant did the work setting the pace and what not.  I think there were a few riders off the front for a long time.  They dangled out there about a minute ahead.  I think with a lap or two to go we swallowed them up in the rollers and at that point I was in the "front" of the pack.  That was cool, since usually I'm in the back somewhere.. yea, whatever. Haha anyways, the pace was really slow at this point and a Cal Giant (the one who won it overall) was off the front with someone else.  At this point it was a chess game that they had won.  We never reeled them back in and I managed to finish 18th overall.  I was happy with my finish.  Not flatting, and finishing with the riders in the front pack.  That made up for the previous two days of racing.  I think I moved up to 44th overall, rather than 80somethingth..

Then we drove back home to a rainy Northern California.  Yay!  We managed to enjoy great weather the entire weekend.  That was nice.