Spring Hill / 2

Spring Hill RR course
The narrow lanes typical of the Spring Hill Road Race course (Bo Hebenstreit). Cross that line and the official runs you down in her SUV.

Well, Spring Hill is done. I lasted two laps, then ran out of gas. This past week I hurt my eye with my contact lens (a scratch, perhaps) and haven't slept well as a result. Perhaps that affected my endurance. But really things weren't any better at Hamilton last week. I've just got to hope that these hard miles, something I've been sorely missing in my riding so far this year, will pay off. The Alto Velo A Ride. The Roaster's Ride. The House of Pain. Solid investments which I haven't made this year. But I admit that on days like this I find myself questioning if there's better things I could be doing with my time. Bike racing is merciless. You come prepared or you get chewed up and spit out, left on the side of the road to rot in the sun.

The course is mostly a single lane (center line rule strictly enforced) of rough pavement (no really nasty potholes, though) and rolling hills. I'm too timid on descents, lose position there, then fail to regain the positions I lost. But honestly I wasn't really racing today. I was just there to get some miles in, to measure myself against the pace of the cat 3 pack, and see how many of the 22 mile laps I'd survive. Take them one at a time, I told myself. Yet still I'd hoped that I'd last the distance.


Near the back (Veronica Lenzi)

Congrats to Greg, who chased back from a crash in the feedzone at the end of lap 2, chased back on over the first half of lap 3, then sprinted at the end of lap 4 for a solid seventh in the field (eighth overall), earning 2 points toward his cat 2 upgrade. Since he needed only one, he's done with the 3's. Very nice. Greg's been racing pretty much continuously since the Low-Key Hillclimbs last fall, moving from Low-Keys to SJBC Winter Series to the NCNCA races in Feb. I honestly don't know how he keeps going.

It was also shocking to hear Clark was there, after his crash and subsequent arm fracture at Battenkill just six weeks ago. I think he lasted as long as I did.

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