2010 Dothan Criterium

It has been almost a week since the Dothan Criterium, so I thought I better comment on it before this weekend's Pensacola Cycling Classic. The Dothan Cityfest was really nice. There was a decent showing for the criterium being the first year of the Cityfest event. The criterium was on Saturday with a century ride on Sunday.

Cat 4 Start

Both my son and I raced, but didn't put in a very good performance. The course was nice, but had a hill which hurt me. The Pensacola Subaru Team was very well represented and did pretty good in their races. This is the first race that I have participated in for over 20 years. I list good excuses for why I didn't do very well, but I'll just accept it. I did enjoy it, but I sure was glad to hear the final lap bell. I would definitely race it again. I hope Dothan puts this event on again next year.

Below are some of my favorite photos that I took. I took a total of 216 photos and then trimmed it down to 65. These can be viewed here. I only took photos of the Masters 35+ and Cat. 4 races. Hopefully my son and I will do better this weekend and I hope to get some good photos too.

Cat 4 racers - turn 1 - 3 man breakaway

Cat 4 racers - turn 4

Cat 4 racers - turn 4

A Beautiful Day

Today was too beautiful a day not to ride a bike. The weather has been wonderful the last couple of weeks with temperatures below 90 degrees. I have ridden the last 3 days, the first 2 with my son. My legs are now sore as when I ride with my son I tend to push harder. It has been great! Even in the 80's it is starting to feel like fall which is one of my favorite times of the year. Lately while riding I've been having flashbacks of wonderful rides I had 25 years ago. Of course I don't remember the pain. But I feel it now and wonder why it hurts so bad.

This coming saturday we are headed to Dothan, AL for a criterium which is part of the Dothan CityFest. It should be interesting as this will be my first race in over 20 years. I plan on riding in the same category as my son and ride for him. I expect to exercise quite a bit of caution. Also, we are preparing for another race the following weekend.

That's right, another race, but this time in the Pensacola area. The Pensacola Cycling Classic (PCC) is next weekend and last for 2 days. I will be riding this race as part of the Florida Senior Games. Yes, I'm riding with the old guys, but that is not to say that it will slow.

The PCC has been one of my targets all year, the first one being Ride Yellow in June. I had hoped to have lost more weight than I have and be in better shape. I had really wanted to win this event. But, I don't feel much stronger or faster than I did at the first of the year so my hopes of actually winning are slim. It will be more about the "experience". It just seems to be taking forever to get back into shape.

I'm not letting it get me too down. I have plans to get involved in randonneuring which means I need to keep working on getting in shape and doing longer distances. My rides lately have been quite enjoyable and I've been spinning a pretty high cadence which is good. It really takes time to get cycling muscles up to speed. I rode off my base for years, but the base went away. Now I'm rebuilding the base and it just takes time. The good news is that once I get a good base again then I believe I will be very close to where I want to be fitness-wise but now I have more wisdom and experience. I'm actually pretty excited about my future when it comes to cycling; I just have to be patient.