The morning started off early with a 5:30am arrival to the race course. Katie and my Mom (Jan) worked registration from before 6am ALL THE WAY to Noon! Big effort and we are very thankful to them and the other volunteers who helped make this day a success.
Before I begin, I got a text from Mason Randall at 5:30am that read: "Not coming to watch you race. Coming to watch you win. Be fast today."
No pressure...
My race (Category 5) started at 7am sharp with my buddy Cooper in the pack with me. Cooper and I tend to be chatty cathys during the race, and this day was no different. We discussed doing a surge off the front with 5 laps to go (the race was only 30 minutes long & about 25 guys in our race). Well, we ended up trying our surge off the front with 3 laps to go....Coop said, "um...bill, BILL!" The pack had already caught back up before the next turn. Bummer.... I think some guys heard us talking about doing that. Oh well...
I tried to recover as best I could and get my heart rate under control. With the final bell ringing, I jumped up to the 3rd position for the last lap. As we rounded the 2nd to last turn, I noticed the pack had dropped back off my wheel. It was down to 3 riders with one turn to go before the final stretch. Going into the turn all three of us jumped to full sprint, I passed 2nd place quickly and then passed 1st place with about 40 yards to go.
It was hard to believe that I was going to win it, but I was afraid of someone suddenly passing me at the end. So I kept going as hard as I possibly could. My heart felt like it was going to explode and I yelled as I approached the line (according to Trey) like William Wallace. hahaha...oops.
It was fun to win on home turf and win for our team, Rockwall Cycling Racing.
I raced another race at 10:15am, but this was a combo Cat 4/5 race. A faster race no doubt with faster riders. I chased down 2 attacks from other teams during the race and was pretty much spent after that. I didn't get dropped, thankfully, but I certainly was done in the legs with nothing left. Larry (Rockwall Cycling Team) won that race with an incredible sprint.
All in all, it was a fantastic day of racing and I think Rockwall Cycling was able to put themselves on the map with a great event. We got nothing but compliments on the course (thanks Tech Park) and the free beer (can't hurt).
Thanks for tuning in today. To Mason Randall, I felt like Forrest Gump when he first meets LT. Dan. "I sure hope I don't let him down"
2 comments:
Billy, that is AWESOME! Congrats on the win! I saw Mason's tweet about your holler, LOL... That is great... Here's a cyber ice donut for your sore rear end...
I was the guy in the Parker Cycling jersey you passed for the win. Congrats on the finish, and thanks for being a part of my first bike racing experience. Rockwall Cycles put on a phenomenal event on Sunday
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