So there we were, cruising out into the middle of nowhere, 6 in the morning... just another Saturday morning at the races... I signed up for the 35+ 4/5 with Matt and Patrick, and we were off around 8:45 am, quite a ways behind everyone else. That made for a relaxing morning and plenty of time for setup and warm-up...
Lap 1 - and we are off at 19mph! Oh boy... Finally, one guys breaks away and TTs for about 30 minutes, then another one joins him. We are not excited yet, and even though Wells Fargo has about 8 guys, they are not chasing yet. We get to the bottom of the hill and start bringing the two escapees in. The wind is not that strong yet, but the hill is taxing and we catch the two escapees half-way up the hill. A few guys take strong pulls and I try to stay top 10 on the way up just in case someone gets away. It seems all the months of winter training are paying off, for the tempo seems hard, but it is manageable. I think we are pretty much together, all 75 of us, starting the next and final lap.
Lap 2 - now that we caught the break, we really slow down. I try a few punches, but the field seem to react fast, so I stay near the very front, watching for any dangerous breaks and just trying to stay out of trouble. By this time, we already had one crash and another one is just around the corner. How do you crash going 18mph??? Well, 40 minutes of exciting racing later, we are lining up for the hill. The pace picks up a bit and so does the wind it seems. Couple of guys break away at the bottom of the hill, and I am thinking that is the move of the day. However, the wind is brutal at this point, and less than half-way up the climb they are cooked. I am staying in the second line, out of wind and as guys fall out and new reinforcements come in, I tuck in right behind them to keep my top 5 spot. This happens a few times in the last 1/2 mile and I think we are getting the pack pretty strung out at this point. Last time I looked back Matt is just behind me! Good to see you there Matt! Now we are about to crest the last ridge and the guy who was pulling hard on lap 1 is just in front of me. I jump on his wheel and am now in 4th. There are two other guys who just took off battling it up the hill, about 4-5 seconds up the road. He seems to be going strong and I feel comfortable and trying to save just a bit of energy in case someone else comes around us. However, nobody does and as we approach the 200m to go sign, I am right behind him. With about 50m to go I feel strong and try a list second effort to come around him; I do, by about a tire-length for the 3rd. I am not happy this is over, Matt comes in 12th, with Patrick just a bit behind. We cruise around and wait for the rest of the crew... Peter M gets a nice lead-out from Ivo and comes in for 3rd (almost 2nd) with Stone just behind. Ed *the Hammer* gets 2nd in his class, complete another respectable day for the Steven's Crew!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment