Victor I
aka Ridgehog
The course opened up to a fire road at the end and I finally got to stretch my legs and opened up for a sprint to the finish. Most of my energy was waisted trying to move through various positions. I agree with your take on it. I also believe in getting out of the way of someone that is faster than me. There were many athletes that entered this race. The fitness levels of some of the racers gave the appearance of being top notch, like a pro athlete(can’t say for sure, simply appearance). While I’m in fairly good shape for my age, I am not an athlete(no false modesty, it’s just the truth). I would like to try the same set of circumstances on a much more technical course and see how it turns out. Still glad I did the race. Stewart is a fun course and it was exciting.Truth with bike races, but I've done over 100 running races to know how to run my race and the position myself. Positioning even more so for bike races as Vic and Frank have noted. Here's the dilemma for a lot of new racers, you want to start in the back so you are not that guy who holds the fast guys back. Never sit in the back, take the second row and you will know in a quarter mile if the pace is too fast for the day. Let the faster guys pass early then ride your race. Waiting too long could blow you too fast. Sitting in the back can be frustrating and usually leads to having too much left in the tank. One of my coaches said if you don't free like dying after a race, you didn't put down enough effort. I got nothing else to contribute for racing otherwise