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Saturday, November 24, 2007

My Race History since March

After receiving my first road bike last Christmas I was anxious to start racing competitively, but was so clueless to training and all that my first race I was really unprepared for. It was the Rutger's Season Opener on March 3rd. First race I've ever done was the Rutgers Individual Time Trial. I remember coming 2nd to last, which I was just glad I didn't come in last. However, the Criterium later that day wasn't the same, I came in last.

The next race weekend we did was at Bucknell University, in which I came in last in the road race, and was not listed in the final results of the criterium, which I know I came in 2nd or 3rd to last.

Boston Beanpot Classic followed. The first race was the Road Race on Saturday, in which I got a flat tire halfway into the first lap. I was not able to finish, since I didn't have a spare tire in the support car. The next day (Sunday) was the Criterium, in which they would eliminate you from the race if you fell back too far. It was a fast race on a short course so you were not allowed to be lapped. I was 2nd to be eliminated.

After the Boston race we had a few weeks before the next race we wanted to do, which was the Vassar College's "Tour of the Hudson River". Before this race I did a training race in Trexlertown, in which I crashed and damage my rear wheel and had a nasty road rash on my right leg and arm. I almost didn't race at Vassar because I did not have a spare tire to use, and my leg was hurting from the crash. However, a few days prior to leaving for Vassar I decided I was going to be fine for the weekend, but still needed a wheel. My teammate, Kim, let me borrow one of her spare tires, and I got to race!

Saturday was the Team Time Trial, in which it was the first we did. Joe, Jon and I decided to band together and represent DeSales University in the TTT. We came in last, unfortunately, but it was a good learning experience. Later in the day was the road race, however I opted out of that because my leg was hurting again. The next day was the criterium which I was psyched for, since it was the last race for the season for me. I came 2nd to last in that race, due to a bad start.

Over the summer I did 3 USAC Sanctioned race and 1 non-sanctioned race. The first was the Hellertown Criterium, back in May. I had a bad start and was unprepared for it, I came in last. The Allentown Sportsfest Criterium at Irving Park, and I came second to last after making a mistake halfway in the race and fell behind. In July was the Pottsville Cycle 17 race (non-sanctioned), in which I placed 48th out of atleast 60, and came 3rd in my age group. I could've done better but my bike was in a shop for a week right before this race, so I had no time to train that week. The last race before school restarted was the Lehigh Valley Winery Criterium, which was my best race I did yet in my career. I came 21st of 28. I was really impressed with my results, knowing that I have really improved over the summer with my training.

2 comments:

Ron George said...

you're reliving my collegiate story this year, through this post. will you be racing collegiates next season or no?

Zach said...

Yes, I will be racing collegiate again. Next season COULD be my last, atleast for a bit before I may go back to DeSales University for my Masters in a few years and could race again. It all depends on my last year if I need that spring semester or not to graduate. Thanks for reading!