Raced in Greenville, SC this past weekend, in the Greenville Cycling Classic. Was definitely the hardest I've ever ridden in my life! Placed 11th on Sunday, out of 50-60 riders. I was very happy with my performance considering it was my first race "weekend" ever. One thing I was curious about though. When I finished racing, I was breathing very hard...extremely hard. A team mate of mine(I was asked to join a CAT 4 team next year) asked me if I could taste blood, and if I could, that was normal. Does anyone know the technical explanation for this? From my understanding your lungs expand against your rib cage so much that it causes the little sacs inside to burst or something, but that it makes your lungs stronger the more you train, and obviously recover. Anyways, I had tons of fun, and can't wait until next season!!!