Race Report: Mount Joy, PA

So I woke up at 5am Saturday morning to make the trip down to Lancaster County, PA for the Mount Joy road race. I was looking forward to it in that:
A) Saturday was supposed to be the warmest day in a while (53 degrees woohoo!)
B) The term Mount Joy would maybe refer to a "mountain" in the course...
C) Because of the "mountain" this would make the race better for me...

Well, after a quick 2 hour drive...I arrived to find that Mount Joy is not really a "mount". There was a little hill in town...but I soon realized this course would not have the climbing I would like...

I register and head out on the course for a warm up and to scope it out. Temps are low 40's now...but with the sun its actually not too bad. The course is nice...a short / steep climb...but I doubted that it would make too much of a natural selection in the group. I meet up with Brian for a quick spin...but then realize its 9am and they are calling the riders to the line. Shit! I still had to dump my jacket and some other stuff in my car...

Hurry hurry hurry and I line up with the 76 other riders...all the way at the back. Crap...exactly where I don't want to be. The race starts and for the first two laps I'm trying to make my way forward...slowly and surely. The double line rule is in effect so that makes it harder to move to the front of the group.

Three laps go by and little by little riders have shed off the back...I guess they couldn't hang on the climb...which, btw, we were climbing sooooo slowly. Bell lap comes around and I'm feeling great...but I'm still midpack. I was able to pass a few rider coming up the climb for the last time...and settle in for the descent before the finish.

Leading up the finish was a slight rise. Sensing I was still a bit too far back I tried a move on the inside to make my way to the front. At that time...some midget in a System6 was suffering and cracked...totally boxing me in. After losing some momentum (and quite a few places) I grabbed a wheel and swung to the outside. Finishing straight comes and I made a good dash to the line and passed quite a few riders...but alas it was too late. The rider that slowed me down really cost me a top 5 finish. Pretty sure I sneaked in the top 20...but I haven't seen the results posted yet.

Anyway, I was hoping for a better result...but they'll come. This wasn't the ideal course for me after all. I promised myself last year I would never line up at the back of a field ever again...always be punctual! But this time I misjudged it. Never again! More reports to follow...