tradewinds

yesterday evening, Smilin' Jack Gottlieb™ and your humble author competed in the weekly training race at Tradewinds Park in the wilds of western Pompano. we arrived just before 5pm and were greeted by the particular bouquet of Tradewinds. despite its more malodorous characteristics, the Tradewinds course is a very good one. I had spent the better part of the week fretting over my first real race, but, as with all fear, it was for naught. this is a great course for anyone looking to get into racing. it is not very technical with only two 90º turns and very wide, closed-off roads. after a good warm-up and good words of advice from jack - who was also participating in his first race after some time away -  we lined up with about 20 riders. there were some familiar faces from Mike's Ride as well as several racers Jack knew from G2's racing days.

with little ado, the race began. a slowish roll out gave way to a couple riders heading up the road and into the first turn. I stayed close to Jack, and Jack stayed close to the front of the main pack. the wind was out of the north and the whole of the northwest section of the course was difficult going and that's where, against better judgement, I took off and brought the group up to a lone rider who was dangling between the main group and the early break. after the contact, the field worked to reel in the other two and it stayed together largely through the next few laps. on probably the 6th or 7th lap, a Bike America rider jumped hard on the left followed quickly by Jack who called for me to follow. I accelerated, but a larger gap had formed than I expected. I had to chase very hard to close the distance... in fact, I think this is where my speedo hit 31mph at around 800 watts. in addition to bringing a good deal of pain on myself, I also brought everyone else with me for a low cost ride. I think it was at this point that my legs started to rebel. for anyone used to Mike's Ride, this kind of race in entirely different. the speed isn't any higher, but there are more surges and the group is much smaller so you don't get the benefit of the pack. the constant accelerations definitely start to take their toll and you need to be much smarter about how you spend your energy. the two hard efforts I put in really burned a lot more energy than I expected and the wind took what was left. on the 9th or 10th lap with about 15 more minutes to go, I eased off the gas and watched as the group moved up the road. it was a little disheartening, but I was cooked. even when I began to recover and decided to try again, the group stayed too far ahead to bridge up. at the start/finish, I coasted to a stop and took on a new role as cheerleader for Jack as he continued to be competitive.

through the next couple laps I noticed Jack was also losing ground even as the the guy who would eventually win began to gap the field. the final lap saw two riders come in each separated by several seconds and then finally a bunch sprint contested by those who still had the legs. my friends, it is a very long half of an hour and even the lowest category is surprisingly difficult. Jack gamely finished out the race and we took a little time to watch the pro 1-3 field race. in all it was a very good time and I feel great about going back and giving it another shot. I hope that more G2 riders take advantage of this. it comes at a perfect time in the week to recover before saturday's ride and it will definitely make you a stronger rider.

for those who are interested, the B race goes off at 5:45pm at Tradewinds Park. it is 35 minutes plus 2 laps and costs $15. you will also need a USCF license (either day or yearly). I would try to get there by 4:45 so that you have decent time to get registered and warm-up. I encourage everyone to give it a shot and hope to see more G2s out there soon.

Jack tests out our race radios before the start