Welcome back to the season. I had my first race last Saturday near Germantown. It was a short circuit in a park with a small hill near the finish and a little bit of wind coming off the lake. I didn't know how I would feel in the first race of the season so I just took it easy and rode conservatively. I tried to stay in the front 10-15 riders in case there were splits, because the Masters race that I watched right before my race seemed to blow apart into a few different groups. The cat 3 race wasn't as active and the pace felt pretty manageable. With around five laps to go the race slowed down considerably and three riders got off the front. I attacked with one lap left but that was unsuccessful so I just came in around 25th at the finish. It seems like the group whittled down to about 35 people at the end.

After the race, I rode home for a little extra training and got about 4 hours in total. The race was fun and not too hard, a good way to ease into the season. The serious stuff starts with Battenkill in a few weeks. Looking further ahead I've got Nationals in Augusta, Georgia, at the end of June and perhaps a UCI stage race in July. It's a big season planned, but what I'm really excited about right now is graduating high school in June. I'm gonna put off college for a year after that until 2012, and just pursue some personal interests next year.