Race 1 of 2009 - Bill Jinks Memorial

So I just got in from my first road race of 2009, and considering I've just come back from injury and haven't trained properly for a while it went pretty well. For the first 2 laps (each one being just under 10 miles) I sat in the bunch, then on a big hill where the peloton began to slow each time I got a little annoyed so flicked up a few gears and sped up to the front, where in the third lap 3 of us broke away and gained about a 5 second lead on the peloton. Unfortunately we couldn't keep it up against the powerful peloton determined to stop us getting away. This expense of energy meant that a lap later I almost felt like retiring from the race as I had no energy left whatsoever. But after some water and a quick energy gel I felt a bit better, but still not good enough to take the front of the group again. On the final straight, after being subjected to being pushed off the road onto the verge and very nearly coming off, and losing half a dozen places or more, I came across the line 30th, which all things considering isn't too bad in an 80+ rider race.I have taken away that thirst for racing that I may have lost a little over the off-season, and have realised that without training I'm an OK racer, but now I'm going to be doing nothing but training and racing for 5 months: it's time to take on the Lincolnshire League!