Silverton Road Race

This past Sunday I raced in the Silverton Road Race. It is about an hour south of Portland. My race started at 9, so hit the road with my buddy Josh about 7. It was beautiful out and scheduled to be about 65 degrees at the start. We rolled in about 8, registered, and starting getting ready. We rolled around for about 30 minutes to warm up prior to the race starting...



Race time. Whistle goes off and we are rolling. The field was about 50 (I guess it was supposed to be 78, but that didn't happen). The course was a 17 mile hilly loop that we were doing three times. Right out of the shoot there was a downhill section for a couple of kilometers. In the first minute, the peloton was doing 40+ down these hills. That quickly changed as we started to climb about 3 kilometers in. By the top of the first major climb, we were split in two. Well, I shouldn't say that. The group was split into a group off the front and then everyone else gasping for breath on the way up. Luckily, I was close enough to the front and stayed with the main group. For the entire first lap, we were all together, about 20 of us in total. I stayed in the middle and did really no work. Lap two started off with a bang as one rider went off the front. The group let him stay up for a few miles, but eventually he was reeled in at the top of that first climb. At some point in the next 10 miles our group split into two again. This time I was not positioned very well. I ended up in the chase group. At this point, there were about 6 of us working together well as the first chase group. I was taking my share of pulls at about 500 watts and feeling it on the way down. Up to this point in the race, our average pace was about 22 mph. The break was about a minute ahead of us as we started lap three. At the top of the first climb on lap three, I had popped. Realized I wasn't even though one water bottle yet. Bad idea, I know. Anyway, I tried to push hard to catch the chase group again, but they were working well together and I couldn't do it on my own. I knew I was sitting right around the top 20 and was content with my third lap being a 'Sunday afternoon' ride. I took my time and actually waited up for an approaching rider behind me. He and I rode the remainder of the loop together. The finish was at the top of climb of about a 1/2 mile. About half way up, I used whatever energy I had left and won our little sprint. Came in 18th. It was enough for me to upgrade. I guess I am happy about that.



This is the only picture I could find. I know it is me, because there are zero other MCG riders in Oregon.