Cherry Pie Bike Race

Back in Febuary, the Sunday before President's day, I went down to Harrisburg and did the Cherry Pie bike race. This is a tradition with me- the start of the racing season. Two years ago I did it for the first time on an old REI bike with toe clips and a Camelback. I started out then and lost the group within 2 miles and did the whole 44 miles (group 4/5) by myself. Last year I had my new Bianchi bike and they had separated cat 5 and made it only 21 miles for cat 5. I managed to stay with the group 4 1/2 miles last year before someone wrecked and I had to slow way down to go around and couldn't catch the group in the wind. This year they had an over 40 cat 5 group and I stayed with them for 10 miles and then ran out of steam and fell back. But I averaged 18.3 MPH or so for the whole 21 miles and that includes a pretty good hill. About 4 miles from the end of the race my seat fell, so I had to finish the race with the seat all the way down. The weather was beautiful blue sky, but my Jeep said it was 30 degrees when I parked, so I had 3 shirts on and it was still cold, until I started- then it was just racing. After that of course I was sick with a chest cold by the next day, but it was worth it to get my 3rd Cherry Pie water bottle. Next year I should be able to stay with the group the whole race!
In the picture that's my gorgeous Bianchi Veloce leaning against the Jeep with a random rider going by after the race was over.