The Johnny Cake Lane training series takes place in Coxsackie, NY and consists of three events spread over three Saturday's starting in March. The course is a 7 mile circuit (IV/Vs do 6 laps, I/II/IIIs do 8 laps) which is super flat and very fast. For the last race, an extra bit of climbing is added on to the usual circuit to make things a bit more interesting. For us roadies in the Northeast, it's a fantastic way to get those early-season racing miles in.

My plan for the day was to sit at the front and do a little work for the first 3 laps, getting in some intensity, and then drift back into the peloton to let the real racers dice it up while I rounded out my prescribed volume for the day. Usually, my plans fall apart in race situations where I promise myself only to use them as training, but today actually worked out perfectly for me. I started the race just as I said I would, with a big group of riders pushing to the front to control the pack right from the gun. With the headwinds being as fierce as they were, there wasn't a tremendous amount of action off the front... Maybe a break or two per lap over the first couple of laps. Other than a pair of guys that went off the front almost immediately, not much was happening. Around the halfway point of the third lap, about 5 riders went off the front right as we turned the corner onto the 4th leg of the circuit's rectangular path - where the winds were strongest - and grew a pretty good gap. I hit the nitro button and bridged up to this group, where I stayed for about 5 minutes before I felt the chasing peloton bringing us back.

We were caught as we rounded the circuit to start the 4th lap where I decided to sit up and enjoy the draft of the main group. No sooner had I drifted to the back did some ferocious series of attacks start going off the front. With the winds being what they were, and some early-season jitters amongst the group, it was almost impossible for me to "go easy" and stay with the group which was yo-yo'ing like mad. Halfway through the 4th lap, I lost contact with the lead group and drifted back with about 12 other riders to form our own little group.

With all the action going on up in the main group, I put my head down and locked in my pace to round out the remainder of the 4th lap, and then the final 5th and 6th laps. My group worked together for a little while, but people were pretty hesitant to take a pull. As I worked at the front for the majority of these laps, our group eventually was whittled down to 3, myself included. On the last lap, our little group of three were working a perfect paceline together, but fatigue was definitely setting in for all of us. With a mile or two to go, one of our guys pulled to the right, put his left hand up and said: "thanks guys, see you at the finish". The other rider and I finished side-by-side the rest of the circuit and came across the line together, chatting the whole way.

Overall, a great day on the bike course. I got my 3 laps of intensity, and I got the overall volume I needed for the day. Despite the conditions, it really was great to get out there and see everybody for the first time in 2006, and it's a fantastic feeling having a race in the legs already for this time of the season. With any luck, it will only get warmer from here on out!

Thanks for reading.