The road circuit practice went off tonight and there was some serious throwing down of bike race warfare going on. The group topped out at about 40 riders. It seems my cash payout for the win idea creates a stir among the riders during the week. So for this session all the local teams were represented with seemingly all of their riders. There were also 2 wild card riders, both road professionals, who showed up after hearing of this road race practice affair. Both of the out of town guys seemed to be the strongest as the laps ticked by on the circuit race. They were together off the front on a break during lap 3. The field seemed to not able to bring them back. So on the hill section I did a huge flyer to get across as these two guys seemed to be on another level then the locals. I just barely bridged the gap and as I looked back the field behind me shattered to pieces. All I could do was hang on as the out of town guys kept driving the pace and hitting speeds that were ridiculous on some of the flat sections of the course. All I could do was hang on!
In the end I came off on the last hill section of the course. My heart rate was near 200 B.P.M., and my legs felt like they were going to explode. The two dudes rode me off their wheel and went on to finish 1-2. But I was the last local rider to make contact with them on lap 3, and then hang on until I got popped off.
This is the type of workout that I really wanted by adding money to the practice session to spice things up. And this is the type of workout that will make me a better rider for sure!!! No pain- No gain!
