Glory

I am the 2009 Category 3 overall race winner for the 50th Annual Fitchburg Longsjo Classic.

At the start of the Fitchburg race, I wanted exactly two things. One, I wanted the rain to stop - it had been raining for an entire month! Two, I wanted to earn enough upgrade points to be a Cat 2. Nothing more, nothing less.

I was lucky to have a strong time trial performance, strong enough to gain some time on the field. I was just as lucky to maintain my lead through the circuit race, not get dropped on the road race climbs, and not fall victim to the two crashes in today's criterium. With that, I took home the leader's jersey, and the stage race win.

Nothing comes easily, and I wanted to make certain that I held my lead. I wrote numbers on my bike, calculated times, reviewed results, scrutinized the courses, and spent hours tuning three race bikes. I made sure that no breaks stuck, and did much of my own work. For this, I gained some respect in the field.

Winning the Cat 3 overall, with a few other placings, ought to be enough for my Cat 2 upgrade. I look forward to racing at the next level.

My heartfelt thanks go to the City of Fitchburg and the Fitchburg Cycling Club for organizing such a fantastic event; to the MIT Cycling Team (and headline sponsor FXDD) for helping me to race at this level; and to the good men in the Cat 3 field, who made it a good, fun, and (mostly) safe race.

(Photos and final results will be in a later post.)