I am the Keymaster....

State Championship Road Race - Avon MN. wow, how fun was that? Master 4/5 had what...12 Loons in the mix. Seeing that I have not done this in a LONG time, I was a bit nervous. I kept telling myself - its just a big group ride and a hockey match rolled into one. 51 miles - 3 laps of 17 miles. Nice set up - some good climbs with matching downhills - good speed for sure. Aside from the corners - we typically sat at about 24-28 mph. This is just fine in the group. I really did not like riding with handlebars touching - cutting lines and such - I know its part of the deal but instead I spent alot of the time near the front. The first lap was fast and about 20 sprinted or sped up for the finishing of lap one - I think I was 5th. We eased back on the 2nd lap and I spent some time in the pack. When we hit the half way point on lap 2, things took off again. The whole group accelerated and at those speeds - I wanted nothing to do with the pack. Up to the front where the riders were single file. I was sucking wheels for most of the 2nd lap and when we came to the last leg of lap 2 - I led out first on a pace line and held it to the finish of lap2...man, that was cool. The people were lined, the cowbell dinging, the cheering...that was addicting for sure. I really felt strong - or at least really good - no lasting fatigue, no burn in the legs...yet. My plan was to sit back for the rest of lap 3. As we headed into lap 3, I was riding next to Neil Thunderstorm and when I saw him reach for a bit to eat... I thought to grab a bite too...the only problem was that my car key ( here it comes) was in the same stupid back pocket as my bar. Out comes the bar....and out comes the phrase from a few riders back..." someones key just fell out...in the ditch". Yup, my key. I cannot remember why it was there, it normally isnt. But now, it was in the ditch. Stop, go back, pick up key and get going - solo and they were 1 min up on me in a flash....at 25 mph plus.

Well, that was 1 mile into lap 3, sucky. I did finish however by myelf - I reset the computer and maintained an average of 21 point something for 16 miles. Too bad a group of 62 rides a bit faster. On the last leg, there was a crash and it left one Loon to go to the hospital with a broken collar bone and Neil got some SERIOUS road rash...I saw the aftermath as I was in back...way back...I did finish strong - glad I did it - i was happy with how I did just not happy with my key placement...now let me see - where did i put my keys????