Prairie Rude Days - 2008 Season finally starts

I had trouble sleeping before this one... but as I was tossing and turning I realized where this race's name comes from... Paris Rouibaix. Hmm, funny. Normally this race is run through the sidewalks of the High School campus in Cedar Rapids, but their was too much sand and grit, so we instead did a 5 lap circuit out on the county roads.

If I would have known this the night before, I would have fallen right asleep, because this race format was much less technical and didn't feature the mass sprint at the beginning.

After the first lap I remember thinking, "huh, there isn't really any place to make a break, except maybe on one of the four corners". Then on the very next lap, a very subtle acceleration on an uphill stretch caused a gap. Me, Tracy Thompson and Benjamin Lewise were in this break. Tracy immediately assumed the role of 'coach tater' and gave us suggestions regarding speed. The rest of the race we basically pace lined until the final stretch.

Tracy's first action was to verify that we were each in a different category, in that way, we technically weren't competing against each other. Benjamin informed us that this was his first race. Naturally, my ego kicked in, and I decided I wasn't going to come in third. So, that left 1st overall or second place overall, either of which I was going to be happy with.

I ended up second overall and 1st out of the 6 Category 4 entrants. So technically I won the race that I entered, so the new Harper's Cycling Jerseys have debuted in winning fashion.

I elected to take the plate of chocolate rice krispie treats as my trophy. I completely ate the entire plate by nights end. My gut was stuffed, but this was still better than last year's routine, which would have been to take the 12-pack of Michelob Ultra and finish that off. Though, I suppose the calorie content would be about the same, with the beer, I wouldn't have felt like going to the St. Patrick's day group ride on Sunday...

About that ride...I am not going to comment much about group rides on this blog, but in general, Muscatine has a great line up of cyclists who tear it up on group rides all season long. Without these hard training rides, I wouldn't be able to compete in the regional races. Considering how sparsely populated the greater Muscatine area is, it is fortunate to still have good local competition.

Sunday rides are supposed to be 'easy rides' but we always end up sprinting. We went over to Illinois and had a nice ride. The weather is still cold, so I put on about 10 pounds worth of gear, and felt warm and toasty. It is very hard to go out in cold weather without the morale support of a group, so I am always thrilled to be logging miles when the wind chill is below 40 degrees.