I went to Raleigh, NC this weekend with a couple of teammates, Matt Cage and Dan Repella. We had a road race on Saturday in rural Chatham county and a crit on Sunday on the NC State campus in Raleigh.

The 55 mile cat. 3/4 road race was on rural NC roads. Saturday’s results were pretty mediocre with me finishing in 18th place and Dan just a few spots behind. Not great, but better than mid pack. This was Matt Cage’s first race (he raced the cat. 5 race) and had a solid, pack finish.

We had fantastic weather for February and raced in short sleeved jerseys and shorts.

After the race we retreated to our luxury hotel, The Raleigh Hilton, and enjoyed the evening. The Rogues normally don’t travel in such style, but priceline came through with a rate of $45 ($58 after taxes and such).

The Sunday cat. 3/4 race was a 45 minute criterium on a back corner of the NC State campus (in or near their research park) with 42 starters. The course is a one kilometer D shaped loop with one hill and a technical back section that contained an S turn. From the start I felt good and held my position near the front of the race. I put in three attacks but was never able to get a group off the front, so with 12 laps to go I started conserving energy. I put myself in third wheel into the last corner and when I saw the finish line I punched it as hard as I could. It was enough to win by a good margin. I’m now five points closer to category two, $80 richer, and full of early season confidence.