Sports Federation of the Valley, which happens to be the road cycling group I ride with hosted Vuelta al Valle. A 2 day event which included a 10 mile time trial on Saturday and a 35 mile road race on Sunday located north of Edinburg. I went ahead and signed up for both in the beginner category.
This was my 2nd time trial event. My first time trial was back in August hosted by Team McAllen in Granjeno so I felt alot better going in with what I learned. I got 31:33.7, 9th out of 15th place.
Next day I rode out with the beginners in the 35 mile road race. My first road race. I have done plenty of charity rides but this was my first road race. I tried to get as close to the front of the pack as I could but so was everybody else. I could not line up straight since it was a tight closeknit pack so I had to line up at an angle. Kind of unsafe to be honest with you especially after having to clip in and the fact that it was a mass start. We were off and I was right in the upper middle of the pack. I felt good, I felt real good. We were pushing about 22-23mph and I felt great.
Everything was going good until I decided to pull out of the paceline to slow down a bit to get a drink of water. I do not feel comfortable reaching down for the water bottle, drinking, and putting the bottle back in its cage at those speeds. I dropped a bottle once at the Ride for Hunger and I almost took the rider behind me down. I imagined the mess I could cause in a large group if I dropped the water bottle.
So back I went and down my speed went and the group attacked. I got dropped. But there was still hope, the group wasn't too far ahead. I mashed the pedal as hard as I could until I caught up. Once I caught up a rider saw that I had caught up motioned to his buddies and they attacked again. I tried to hang on for dear life but was unable to. I got dropped again. It was the Chile Pepper Challenge in El Paso all over again. Bumpy roads and all heading down Hwy 186. In my mind I failed. I tried to blame it on the bumpy roads, the fact that I was too far up front in the group instead of in the back conserving energy. I started overanalyzing everything hating myself. What the hell am I doing. Two other riders passed me. This can't be. I'm better than them. I know I am. Or maybe they really are better than me. Somebody has to come in last. The finish line will be empty by the time I arrive. I still have a freakin flat on my truck to fix.
About 25 miles into the ride I see shadows behind me and hear my name. It was Miguel and Arnold, two of my friends from Sports Federation. I wasn't the last one after all! According to them there were still alot of people behind. I attached to the 2 man paceline getting a break from the wind and some new hope. We pulled, we rested, we pulled, we rested, etc... I saw two riders up ahead. Unsure if they were the same riders that had passed me earlier I tried my best to catch up. I caught my second wind and sprinted to try and catch up. I could see the finish line by now but the two riders had already cleared it. A few moments later I did as well. According to my computer, I completed the race in exactly 2 hours finishing off with a 17.5mph average.
Now it was time to fix a flat tire.
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