Cuyahoga Valley Circuit Race Series #1

Akron Spring Series #1 "B" Race. 65 riders on a tight and rough 5.5 mile loop with a good dose of wind spells....CRASH. The pace was high right from the start of this 5 lap event. Within the first lap the field was reduced to about 25 in the leading group. There were a few who tried to break away but the wind was not their friend. The officials really watched the centerline rule creating a tightly packed field that dodged the holes in the road the whole race. Several crashes ensued. In the end it was a bunch sprint that developed and despite almost kissing the tarmac when I got sliced by a rider trying to avoid a pothole, I recovered and ended up 8/9/10th?? Going forward, I will stay in the masters race group.... I'm too old to crash..and that was close..

I entered the CVCR Race Group B race, the very same race Jeff entered. It was a big field and I started near the back. I did not realize that the field divided into many groups, two big groups and a handful of smaller packs. I was in the second group. I applied a big amount of energy to chase the lead group and I was able to hook up with a pack of about 30 lead riders. Once again I was in the back trying to get myself back together and "Bang", "Crash!" A 4/5 man crash. I did not go down, rode over a riders leg and was able to balance my ride and not go kiss the pavement. The lead group was now 150 yards ahead of me. I once again was chasing and unfortunately against the wind. I was gaining on the pack but I had redlined after about a mile of chasing. I rode solo for about the seven miles. I joined another a group and we became the chase group. There was about a dozen of us but I knew the odds that we joined the lead pack was not going to happen. I took my share of the pulls and relaxed for the final two miles to save some energy for the sprint. The only bonus, I did win the chase group sprint. There were mutiple crashes and all happened within the back of a group. I will not make the same mistakes next week, I will start up the front of the race and will maintain a safe position for the entire race.