Hard to believe that I finally rode my first race of the season tonight. I really was not in shape to do the pre-season events - and tonight made me realize that I'm not even ready for these races.
Rode in the cat 5 race at the Floyd Bennett Airfield in Brooklyn. It's a 2.3-mile rectangle (old runway strip), completely flat with LOTS of wind coming off turn 3 and especially so into turn 4. I was astonished - we averaged 26 mph, which is pretty damn fast for that level. I made a huge mistake of jumping too early and I got stuck in the front for 3/4 of a lap. Then I got squeezed off the inside and touched the brakes a little too hard trying to avoid a few potholes - by the time I recovered and started pedaling, I was already 25 feet off the lead group. I looked back to see where the other half of the pack was ... and they were hardly in sight. Had to slog through the last 4 miles completely solo, but I kept the lead group in sight and only finished 8 or 10 seconds back.
Oh well. Next Tuesday night!