Camellia Festival Road Race......

....was the very first race I ever entered in my life......USCF sanctioned race, that is. I had no clue what to expect. It was March, a cloudy day, the race held near Ione, California in conjunction with Sacramento's annual Camellia Festival(the criterium is still being held - it's known as that crashfest criterium in Land Park every year). It's amazing some of the stuff that you can learn at races. For instance, in my very first race, I learned that it's not a good idea to eat Milky Ways minutes before your race; I learned that Juniors have a gear restriction; I learned that most racers didn't bring their toolbox; I learned that it's not a good idea to ride all the way over to the right when in a pack in a road race due to overhanging tree branches(Randy McCalla, I still feel for ya man - that crash looked horrendous); and finally, I found out that chainrings can slice ears in half. Yep, learned lots that first race. OH - I also found out that attacks usually come on hills!

The one guy who won my race was multi-time national champion Greg Foster, riding a custom-built Keith Lippy bicycle(still building bicycles up in Oregon today, last I heard) - which is why I have a picture of this Steelman above. Greg's bike was the exact same color - I call it spooky green. Greg's had red decals though. And the weird part is that Greg was on the Schwinn Cycling Team. No Schwinn for this guy - it was custom all the way.

So, here we are years and years later, and yet I still remember that first race like it was yesterday. It was my first real sanctioned endeavor into a sport I hope to be involved with for many many years to come.