Brazos Valley Senior Games

     Well, the racing season has begun.  I signed up for the 5k, 10k time trials and the 20k and 40k road races.  The first three are on Saturday and the 40k is on Sunday.  Normally, I do the time trials, skip the 20k and have somewhat fresher legs on Sunday.  Try as I might, I couldn't quite pin down the Arctic Front time frame for Sunday.  So, I took my tired legs into the 20k and skipped the 40k.
     The overcast sky created a damp feel, with a few sprinkles, but as the morning developed, the weather improved somewhat.  The wind, on the other hand, was pretty stout.  I warmed up in the hotel exercise room, then on the road at the venue.  For the 5k we had the wind more or less at our back or left side.
     This early in the season, the field is pretty small, so when I say I took gold in my age group, it isn't like a beat a lot of guys.  But my time was good, although much slower than last year.  I expected to be slower, in that training has not been time-trial specific, and indeed, more like sporadic.   The 10k route was around a country-block, in that it was six miles plus.  Therefore, I had the wind at my back for a short period of time, in my face for a longer period of time, and coming from the side (either right or left) for most of the time.  So, two first-place finishes.  Now for my comeuppance.
     The 20k road race is twice around the course, and a few new faces joined the group.  Because it was so small, the age-groups raced together, and I thought I knew those in my age group.  I followed as best I could for twelve miles, but when they put the hammer down for the last half mile, I had to wave good-bye.  Fortunately for me, most of those leaving me in their wake were in the younger age group, so I ended up with a silver medal.  We did have a few guys that had been dropped early on.
     I'll take a day off, then get serious about being faster on the time-trial bike.