Belterra Circut Race P/B Shama Cycles

Belterra 053
Originally uploaded by shamacycles

WHAT A KICK IN DA PANTS!
This was the simplest course one could hope to race on. L Shaped, two u-turns with little hills at the U-turns. 187ft of elevation gain in each of the 2 mile laps. I thought to myself, "tough, but no problem". I mean I didn't get dropped in any of the races last year on much tougher courses. How did I prepare for such an easy Saturday race? Well I raced the Sunday before in New Braunfels. That's good right? Then I got 3 hours of sleep on Thursday night and 4 hours Friday night due to work and due to building up my brand new Guru Photon Friday to...you guessed it...race on that coming weekend. So no riding in 5 days, 7 hours of sleep in 48 hours and a new bike. Crazy? No. My first lap was crazy. We are not even a mile into the race and I see my friend (from Joe's Pro Bike) Michael Hall go off the front unchallenged. I think to myself, "why not, its the one race this year Shama Cycles is sponsoring and I have to at least show my face somewhere". So I jump like a man possessed after him and quickly find his wheel as we ascend the first climb. We uturn with a gap on the peleton and I take over on the down hill...letting God's gift of gravity do its trick. Yes, while the 14lbs1oz bike might fly away if left unattended, the 200lbs engine atop it still descends like your IQ while watching Jersey Shore on MTV. We take a turn or two and find ourselves approaching the start finish area and I get to the front (or Michael lets me) and I come in on the first lap in front of a two man break in the first lap. I am so proud! I hit the second hill with ease and begin our descent. THEE Shama is off the front on a Shama sponsored race. We make the left turn to head back away from the spectator area and I hear the carbon wheels swooshing as they grab our wheels. I quickly accept the break/rest to be given by the pack and jump in on the back. But some how I am not getting a break, I am not resting, I am still working...and working hard. The adrenaline from my GLORY LAP has faded and my large gorgeous quads are full of lactic acid that won't flush out. Oh the pain. I come through on the second lap hanging out in the back proud to see my Shama kit on better men towards the front of the pack. We start our third lap and I look up and involuntarily I am off the back. CRAP! I am tired and want to give up, but I see some other guys I know come by me and I jump in to work with them. Now begins the "off the back" race as I eat my Humble Pie. Well I would have eaten some if I could breathe and chew at the same time but sine I can barely breathe my pie will have to wait. I finally start to feel good and start laying it out working hard each lap to catch up to some of my team mates ahead of me who have experienced my same fate. I start pulling entire laps closing the gap and catching my guys. Then I wonder "hmmm, maybe if I had sat in and warmed up would I still be there?....NAAAA I got a shot of me off the front!" haha So I carry on and have some fun coming into the last lap I sit up and decide to let others take some pulls while I rest up for a final K attack. We come up to the finish line for the last lap and I am feeling good in the back of this 8 man group I help create and they call it as our last lap. Ok, now I was not going to win and I was going to place in the last half of the group anyway. BUT SERIOUSLY???? I pull these guys for lap after lap and they cut our race short as I get scored behind them? I just had to laugh at myself for being up set about it at all...well I didn't laugh right away...I was too busy yelling at the refs contesting the final lap decision. Kidding...I swallowed it and rode off the course to watch the finish. I quickly began to cough like an old man from the cold dry air in burning my lungs as my heart rate tries to slow down. Questioning what happened (dropped) from the first race...I quickly got ready and signed up for round two of punishment. I mean...I am here...I can't go anywhere else for a while and I have two legs that work. I jump into race #2 and in the first lap I see these two guys jump off the front. One of them looked like a straight up MS-150 rider with his saddle bad and basic blue jersey with black shorts and yellow helmet. There is a guy who races (cause he is wearing a perfectly matched team kit) on his wheel so I quickly jump to to catch their wheel. We hit that first little climb and OMG this MS150 guy is accelerating and I am blowing up! WTH???? Then right before the 180 team mate and killer climber Bill Krause jumps around me and goes right up to the two and so does everyone else. My one Glory Lap dreams were quickly crushed on the descent back and I just rode in the back of the pack and as we started in on our second lap and the pain crept in and my lack of fitness was exposed to all as I pulled out of the race after 1 freakin lap! Oh man. Ok, so I have not trained, slept, or anything right for racing. Oh well...that is why I have a team that races for me and that is why they did great that day with two top tens. Plus lets face it...we just flat out had a great time. The sun was out and it was some great racing with some great friends in Austin....and that is why I really race.