I'm back!!!

Well the conference in Tampa was very educational. Due to rainy weather I was unable to ride the bike though. I tried to look at the lack of training as a much needed rest. So with a bit of hesitation I took my week of rest with me to DeLeon Springs this past weekend for my first venture into catagory 4 racing.
A 42 mile road race on a relatively flat 7-mile course. I really had no pre-conceived ideas of how the race was going to go, so I just took it as a "feel it out" type of race. It was a huge field so it was easy to just sit mid-pack and watch the tactics unfold. Other than the sprints out of every corner, the pace was pretty easy to handle. There were two substatial crashes within the first two laps (both happened in front of me). I was forced into the grass on the first and into a ditch on the second, but was able to sprint back to the accelerating field both times. A veritable deluge hit us on the second to last lap and created a bit of nervousness through the corners. I was able to stay near the front on the last lap and even had enough legs left to possibly get a good place into the final corner before the slightly uphill sprint...but I was admitedly nervous about the wet roads and high speeds going through the turn. I took a much safer, and slower line on the inside which gave me no shot at all at the sprint, but I got out of the saddle anyway and finished strong in the top 20 (I think 16th, out of a good 70 or so guys).
• Brad Jerald (Santos Bike Shop) also rode strong and finished with me in the pack. Santos Bike Shop had a few guys out there, including the winner of the Cat.5 race (it was his first ever road race (he's a mountain bike guy)).
• Rodrigo S. from the GCC also entered the Cat.5 road race and finished well...ask him how it went if you see him.

The BLOG is spreading...
There has been some expressed interest in my little BLOG from some cycling enthusiasts of late. I'm glad to see that there are more and more comments being posted and look forward to even more interest in the coming month with the start of the Tour de France!
• in response to some of the comments i've been getting...
Huan, sorry for misspelling your name for the past couple of months, it won't happen again.
Brad, you can still post your comments without me responding to each of them, don't be so co-dependant (I kid)
Moose, thanks for searching out the BLOG, your input on the Tues/Thurs ride is great.
Brent, good times in Tampa...enjoy your business cards.

In Addition:
• The elite national championships are currently going on in Utah. Check out the results on cyclingnews.com (it's listed in the links menu to the left)
• Discovery Channel has listed the eight guys that will ride in support of Lance at the TdF this year. And the cyclists are:
George Hincapie
"Tricki" Beltran
"Chechu" Rubiera
Jose "the Ace" Acevedo
Benjamin Noval
Pavel Padrenos
Yaroslav "Popo" Popovych
Paolo "il Falcon" Savoldelli

In the Future:
I'm going to start posing a question to you, the viewing audience, with each of my posts. This will hopefully be a catalyst to promote a more interactive environment for all of us.
The topics will most likely be related to the TdF during my TdF commentaries, but they will in no way be limited to just the Tour, or to just cyling for that matter.
So for the first "trial" insallment:

"Other than Jan Ullrich and his T-Moblie teamates, who do you see as a possible threat to Lance and Team Discovery at the Tour?"

Keep posted, I'll be in touch,
Paul