Housatonic Hills Road Race

I participated in the Housatonic Hills Road Race this past weekend in south west Connecticut. I was in the cat 3/4 field, along with about 120 other racers. The race started out pretty good, it was a neutral start up this long hill, and at the top the race begun. Everything was going all right, I was working my way towards the front, and then it happened, people started bumping around. One guy hit the guy next to me, which then hit me hard on my left back side, I then ran into the guy next to me, and those three riders hit the pavement, and I heard the terrible sound of metal and flesh hitting the ground. I was relieved that I did not go down, nothing worse than falling because someone runs into you.

I then regained my composure and got to the top of the next hill. However on my way down this hill everyone was flying by me, and I was having to pedal hard to try and keep up. I got dropped, and then chased the pack with a few different groups. We eventually finished the first lap, and then we were going up the first climb, when I heard a grinding noise, I thought my free hub was freezing up, so I jumped off my bike. I examed the situation and then saw the problem, my brake caliper had shifted and was sitting right on my rear wheel, I could not even spin it a full revolution. I then straighted the brake and was on my way.

I rode the seocnd lap pretty much by my self, and I rode it faster than I did the first lap when I was riding with groups. Overall an unlucky race, as I believe my brake was rubbing about 15-20 minutes in after the crash. However I must congratulate my good friend Pete, as he won the Pro,1,2,3, field, and is the official Connecticut Road Race Champion, way to go Pete!

Moral of the story, crashes can ruin your race even if you don't go down, and race more like Pete.