Spring Fling Race Day #1

Yes I am a few days behind. Way too busy keeping all my affairs in good order but now I am good to go.

OK first Criterium or Crit of the year happened on March 25th 2012 out at Clinton Lake camp ground #1. I rolled in set up command center, ie bike stands for people to use, tent and chairs. Must be comfortable at the race venue. Registered for the Masters 35+ event and the CAT 4/5. I wanted to do three races that day, the 3/4 but decided earlier in the week to take a fellow race team member over to the Lawrence river trails for a bit of extra fun on the MTB.

PTC in the Black Jersey

I warm up a bit or try to. It was a bit brisk with the wind coming off the lake so I had to add the knee warmers and heaver gloves. If my hands get to cold it is hard to shift so better to be warm than cold.
The Masters 35+ race is a 40 minuet timed event on a 1.2 mile loop. We averaged 24.5 mph. I line up and hey I am on the front line! I start to look around the group and yes, I start to see all the guys that seem to school me in CX and last year's Road and Crits. Starting to think, I will be off the back soon! Oh well, I have been training with all of these men in mind. Whistle goes off and I can not get into my peddle so all those guys pass me at the start. I get rolling and move up to the position I want to ride, top 5-15. I was in the 10 area and was happy about this. The first race everyone even us experienced riders have some storage dust to blow off. The Masters race is a bit better because most of these guys are well GOOD. It was fun rubbing shoulders and chit chatting about it with fellow riders I have not seen since late summer 2011. I raced up in the top part of the peloton. I felt really good about my fitness which solidified that my training plan was spot on.The results show I finished 24th avoiding a crash in the last curve into the finish separated many of us.

I am very pleased really. There are some big time riders here in the area and for me to ride with them at this time of the year is AWESOME!

Roger Williams[red]
 Michael Ruder PTC [KCBC]

KCBC Racing had a good group of men [5] in the 4/5 race so it was nice to race with fellow team mates in the peloton. The 4/5 race was a 45 minuet event on the same 1.2 mile loop. We averaged 24.2 mph or so. After the Masters race I started to chit chat with fellow riders about the race so I found myself scrambling to re-pin my number on a different race jersey to match the KCBC Team. At this level we need to race for ourselves. Many others like a few teams I will not mention really think they can make a difference but when it comes right down to it, if the peloton wants to catch you, ah, we will and you can bank on that. I once again raced in the top part of this race following Teammate from GO! Racing Roger Williams. This race was a bit scary. Lots of shoulder rubbing on the turns. I am so glad I have good bike handling skills or many of us would have been on the floor many times. The results say I finished 39th and that is OK. I and others decided we know where we are in our training and it is still training so we backed off the last lap to let those guys fight it out. I saw a crash in the Masters 35+ I was sure there would be one on that last turn in this race.

So to sum up the days racing: I performed where I had hoped I'd be.
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Finished the day with an hour and twenty minuets on the Lawrence River trails with Dan. We had a hoot!

See you in the Peloton soon!

Coach Ruder