Yesterday was my first P/1/2 race after upgrading 2 weeks ago. I learned first hand that the difference between Cat 3 and the Pro/1/2 field is tremendous. 8-9 hours a week of training just isn't going to cut it to finish in the top 20 in a field like yesterday's.
The Course
The Bear Mountain race course is located in 
probably the most "pro" of anyone and 2008 National Time Trial Champion. Many of these riders I only recognized by name, not sight.
The Race
Our race started easy. It was nearly conversational pace for the first lap. However, things got hard starting on the climb of the 2nd lap. Each time around the pace picked up. Half-way through the 4th lap I looked around and saw none of the other freshly upgraded Cat 2 riders that I knew; nearly half the field had been shelled.
I made the awful mistake of being a too aggressive for the shallow depth of my legs; I attempted to get into a break chasing what I thought was a small group which included Freyre. Once I started putting in this effort (at 68 miles into the race), I felt the beginning of cramping in my legs. I immediately toned it down and found shelter in the pack and tried to recover enough for lap 6.
When we hit the bottom of the climb on the 6th lap, I lasted about 400m before I started to fade back and watch the support car pass me (never a good feeling). The group appeared to stay pretty well-together going up and I was clearly the first to get dropped.
Having given up foolishly in the Penn State Road Race last weekend, I was haunted all week by the feeling of quitting and was determined not to give up. I kept up a reasonable pace and time-trialed solo for the rest of the race, passing the remnants of several fields.
I finished 44th, 16:23 behind the first place finisher and about 5 minutes before a dead last group of 7 riders in my field rolled across the line. I was the 10th Cat 2. 52 racers finished 49 dropped out. Not a great result but better on my conscience than dropping out.
Lessons Learned
I need to focus more on nutrition - eating and drinking more. I took about 8 rice/egg/soy sauce balls bars with me which, I don't think, provided enough of and the right kind of energy needed for the 4000+ Kcal effort. Also, I need focus on restraining myself from being too aggressive when my legs can't back it up.
Full results of the day can be found here:
http://www.bikereg.com/Results/2009/05/10-Bear-Mountain-Spring.asp
