Wolfpack Classic Road Race

i left the house around 6am, arrived at the site at 7am, got my number and then lolly-gagged around too much...looking to see what everyone else was wearing. went with tights on, but changed to knee/arm warmers, short gloves. went for a ride. cold. came back and put the long finger gloves on and a vest. i guess i probably got in about 15-20min of warmup.

anyways....the first 18mi went like this :

pack: slowing!
me:
pack: speed up
pack: slowing!
me: get the F out of my way!!! stop the gd slowing crap! wtf are you people doing???????
rinse and repeat for 18 friggen miles.

rules - DO NOT CROSS THE CENTERLINE!! so, we start out 6 or 7 wide in an intersection and have to funnel down to a double paceline. i can't get towards the front without going over centerline or up the middle. honestly, i didn't want to go up the middle cause i didn't want to take a chance of crashing and getting hurt again. so, i just stayed towards the back.

i pretty much sat in the first 18mi, felt pretty good, was able to pass ppl on the short rollers/climbs, but still ended up towards the back. dunno how. there was one short climb that i knew i was going to get dropped on, it ranged from 8-11%. i did get dropped, but was able to get right back with the group fairly quickly. we eventually ended up in a single paceline with some of the collegiate gals not giving an inch for getting into the line. oh well, i held my own till the next climb and then found my place in line.

the crash happened on a flat section around 23mi i think. don't know what happened, probably wheels touched. all i saw was bicycles cart-wheeling and girls going down. that took out 6-8 plus me & another girl that stayed up. the pack went right on and there wasn't any chance for me to catch them. 2 of the crashees got up and worked together to get back to me and proceeded to drop my ass. my legs hurt at this point and i just couldn't hang on to their wheel. the last 15mi was pretty much solo.

i have no idea where i placed in the cat4's and at this point, i don't really care. i finished the race and i stayed upright. there were 22 starters, don't know how many were DNF.

not sure if i like these rr's or not...all that damn slowing shit got on my nerves. i mean, ? we're in a flat straight section and we're slowing??????? sheesh. as bad as the Burnsville ride last year. next race is not till April at the ACE speedway. i guess i'll give that a try too.

that's it. i'm tired now, legs hurt, need to find some food. at least i did keep the rubber side down.