A few months back I caught wind of the City of Las Vegas Corporate Challenge via a work email. I looked into it and found out there was a bike race component. I decided what the hell and signed up. Fast forward to today and had that carefree "what the hell" mentality turned into a "what in the hell was I thinking" mentality? Absolutely. I slept awful the night before. Had nerves all day. Was literally talking myself off a cliff on the drive down to the start. I don't know why I was so in my head. Thankfully the talking down helped. I pulled into the parking lot and started getting ready. I was super early, but it actually worked out for the best. I grabbed my bib number and bike tag without issue. I spotted some guys rolling around getting warmed up and I figured, "Huh I probably should." It was kinda cool that once Shadow and I got rolling, albeit just noodling to get some blood moving, my mind went completely quiet. I was enjoying pacing back and forth from the start line to the casino when I spotted Rick Rogers going the opposite direction. Seeing a friendly face I latched onto him for dear life. It was relieving to have someone to chat with while waiting for the start. It's funny when I first spotted him and we rolled up. He said, "Please tell me you aren't in CorpB." After confirming I was indeed not in CorpB, he seemed much happier. It was a comedic way to start things. I knew the course was only going to be 12 miles, give or take, and from the get go I was on it. I wasn't quite full gas, but certainly enough gas to be fast but not explode before the end. The ride out was amazing mainly because of the tailwind. After rounding the corner to make the return the headwind was a nightmare. Realizing there was nothing I could do about it I just put my head down and ground it out. Coming into the line I did my best attempt at a finishers sprint and tried to leave nothing out on the road. I probably could have started just a bit earlier, but I'm happy to have given it my all. Rick came in a few minutes later and we again hung out while waiting for everyone else to roll in. Several minutes later we wondered back over to the parking lot to await the results. While we were standing around I overheard someone talking about the results. I kindly asked for the URL, pulled it up on my phone, and was so surprised to see the results. In the CorpA overall I'd placed 3rd. I felt that was pretty respectable considering I'd seen guys on full TT bikes. Then I noticed that I'd placed 1st in my age category to boot! Woot woot! I absolutely could not believe it. I never expected that I would have done that well. Texting back and forth with the wife sharing the news it nearly brought a tear to my eye. New bike fund: $58.80 (+$0.00) Sunny-Sunny, 71°F-69°F, Feels like 70°F-67°F, Humidity 10%-15%, Wind WSW 13mph-WSW 12mph -- by Klimat.app -- myWindsock.com Report -- Weather Impact: 3.5% Headwind: 57% @ 16.4-17.7mph Longest Headwind: 19m 7s Air Speed: 22.5mph Temp: 81.1-81.9°F Precip: 0% @ 0 Inch/hr -- END --