Early Season Race Report   

For some reason I started this year off by getting myself involved with some road racing.  Before this year I had raced in three road races and my first experience was the Mt. Evans Hill Climb.  Real smart choice on my behalf and to top it off I didn't warm up.  But who cares, I finished.

Hell of the North

Since I have never had a USAC Road License, I have to race with the 5's for a while.  Which is fine but being around a large group of jittery riders makes me nervous.  So Llew and I ride out there to the course.  He started off with the 4's and unfortunately flatted at some point but got back on the road and finished.  I hung with the front group and in a moment of unclear thinking I attacked on the dirt road section of the last lap.  When I quickly was off the front by a couple hundred feet in a headwind  I was feeling like Big Maggie.  But of course I am not and decided to drift back to the group and stay with them to the finish.

Triple Valley Stage Race

Stage 1

The race was an out and back on the Skull Valley road.  It's pretty flat with a few rollers mixed in.  After the turn around I flatted and spent the rest of the race chasing the group.  I finished just out of the pack and was lucky enough to get the same finishing time.

Stage 2

The time trial was a kick in the pants and a first for me.  It was out by Copperton and had a nice quick climb in there to make you suffer a little more.

Stage 3

The circuit race in Toelle was fun and we motored along nicely through the first couple of laps.  Being the day of heathens, our group was a bit smaller.  On the 3^rd lap someone decided to jump and Porcupine decided to join them.  I gathered three other skinny climbers and we spent the next couple of laps chasing them down.  We got close but no cigar.  Oh well it was fun and a great workout. 

Tax Day Circuit Race

The day before the race I stopped by the LBS and bought a couple of new tires and put them on like I have a bazillion others.  Llew was gracious enough to pick me up on Saturday and give me a ride to Inkhom Idaho.  You know, as someone in our group would say, it was close to Pokeafello.  Llew brought his son Bowen along also so he could enjoy his first race.  The 4's and 5's were together in a group of 45-50 and we rolled out for the fun.  Thankfully there was a 1.5 mile neutral start and about 1.5 miles after that I flatted.  So I grab a wheel from the support truck and proceed to chase the rest of the race.  At one point the group was right above me on a switchback but at that point the whole thing exploded and they were off like the wind.  Llew hung tough though and did great.  Bowen got 3^rd in his first race and almost was DQ'd because he had the wrong cog on his bike.  The nice thing was that the 1^st and 2^nd place finishers also had the wrong cog so they let it slide.  This kid is gonna rip all of us apart pretty soon and it will be fun to watch. 

So I learned that my new tactic called the "Flat and Chase" doesn't work too well.  Oh well, it's been a fun few weeks and I know summer is still on the way.  I would recommend any of these three races and hopefully they spice up the road race for Triple Valley next year.

Well that's all I got to say about that.  Racing is so addictive and most of that is because I love riding bikes.  I think it's time for some racing in the dirt, so hopefully I see you at the next I-Cup race.  Let me know if you want to carpool.

[A report by D. Roper. Cutthroat Racing VP.]