RR: Early Birds #1

What a difference a year makes! Last year for the Early Birds, I raced in the "haven't raced bikes before" group. And got dropped in most of the races. This year I lined up with the "have raced at least 10 times" group and my goal was to stick with the group as long as possible before I got popped off the back. Well, I didn't get popped! Got gapped a couple of times out of the corners, but all the track riding kicked in and I got up out of the saddle and was able to get back in the group. I tried various positions within the pack and even took a flyer with two laps to go (this was more a "I really don't like the position I'm in and there's a gap so I'm out of here" jump rather than a full attack). I'd decided coming across the start/finish on the last lap to not contest the sprint as at that point people were already started to move around too much and coming around turn 4, I was at the back of the pack, but in the very long finishing straight I was able to pass a number of people and ended up about mid-pack. Super happy with the effort, especially considering I've only ridden the road bike on the road three times since October. Riding the rollers just doesn't cut it. I need to get some hard miles in my legs.