Mingo Creek #1

It was a nice day and actually warmer than I expected. Ag3r/Indianacycling.com had a pretty good turn out. I think there were 6 of us but I may have miscounted. The race started off in a cluster of confusion like usual. The cat. 1,2,3,and masters were all lined up to race together and they said go. Seconds later someone else yells,"Only 1,2,3!" So all of the masters stop and in the process stop everyone behind them. So the 10 or so of us who got stuck in the back got started again and struggled to catch back on to a rampaging peloton. After the race Henry told me that they eventually just told the masters to go and they all had to try to catch up to the 1,2,3's even later than I did. Anyway, I did catch back up but not until the bottom of the hill on the course and at the pace they were going up I was in a bad spot. I got gapped at the first part of the hill and just about caught back on at the top but it was too late. The group was gone and I was dropped. I chased for 3 more laps and that is when I caught Mark N. and we threw in the towel. I can't comment on how anyone else did in their races because all of the fields were so fragmented that I didn't know which group was which. It was a good day for a race and it was a good race. It just wasn't a good race for me. But, it was fun. Then I had to drive 5 hours home through the mountains of WV and western VA. If anyone would like to go on an excursion to do some amazing climbs that last for miles and have many switchbacks I would recommend Rte. 33 between Harrisonburg, VA and Rte. 79 in WV. That's a stretch of about 90 miles or more and it would be deadly to do all at once but if you come to visit me we can do the section right outside Harrisonburg and that will probably be plenty.