Phase 1 Complete

It was an impromptu decision - stepped into one of my localish bike shops to get a few basic necessessities for the reconstruction of one of my velocipedes and I was asked whether i would be heading to the park for the race. What race? The one that's on every weekend. Well, my only plan that afternoon was a bike ride to assist one of my good chums in his preperation for the upcoming Gong Ride and I thought that could be worked in so I made a commitment then went home to prepare - which basically involved drinking lots of water and doing half hearted stretching (and gettign a new pair of pantaloons but they weren't used so I'm not sure that that counts as preparation). I had a vague idea where Heffron Park was but it turned out that I was very wrong (luckily Google Maps was there to rescue me) - bumped into Paddy Jone on the way in - a potential ally in the world of racing - upon arrival I wasn't sure which grade to go in but decided to err on the side of caution and go with D - last time I raced I was in D and i didn't win so I could hardly be blamed for underestimating the field. Not really knowing the protocol of the race didn't help but I knew the fat guy ahead was going to make a decent windbreak so staying behind him seemed like a good idea. It wasn't long before I found myself nearing the front - having been told many times that it's wise to stay near the front but not at the front I kept a pretty basic pace and apart from a few half hearted attacks by a couple of others (including a man with only one leg) I managed to find myself fighting the wind for the majority of the race - a very nice course - had been there before but had not realised that it's actually a rather fun place to ride around - before I knew it we heard the final bell and I started pedalling a little faster - not long after that a small bunch of the A graders including the good man Paddy Jone went past us - taking this as my cue I did my own version of the attack, thinking I could perhaps try to hide behind the A graders but overtook them in short time (good thing too, apparently that's against the rules) and before I knew it I'd crossed the line with nobody from my grade anywhere in sight. Still a few other grades had to finish so I wasn't quite certain that it was my race. But it was. And I won. And it's the first time ever. Little should be said about the fact that 2nd wasn't wearing bike shoes (means nothing - toe clips are just as good in a short race as cleats) and less should be said that 3rd only had one leg (he had the build of a very good cyclist and I'm sure he was) but there were some good riders in the bunch and I beat them. Huzzah.