| Comments: | Oof… not much sleep last night, it was hot. Plus my race was at 8:40 IN THE MORNING so to ensure my breakfast was digested I had to get up at 5.
But hey, the weather was cooler so that was very nice. As was the course! The pavement was new, there was no sand or debris on the ground and there were very few or those protruding lane markers and manhole covers. I was arcing the turns, it felt like I was on skis. Love it.
I got on the trainer at 8 for 20 minutes and could only muster the 53x19 and 17. Then I said screw this and rode two laps of the course before lining up five minutes before our start. It was one of those mornings where I did not see hardly anyone and then suddenly 40 guys show up. Nice.
For IJM.org it was me, Alastair L, Corrie M and RC R. The gun goes off and Kyle (First Rate Mortgage) is off the front like a shot, probably just to get around turn one safely. Prior to the race, since this was my first time on this course, I was talking to RC and he told me that turn one on the first lap was the only thing I needed to worry about. I was poised to go with Kyle but this guy is famous for his lack of staying power so I just hung in the first row and decided to preview the course at speed before trying anything.
Garage was here in force and on a mission. They raced very well always on the offensive and chasing moves that did not contain their riders.
About three laps in I found myself off the front with no less than three Garage riders and so it went. Once I went away with Mike B, once with Alex R, once with Tom W and sometimes I was too winded to do anything and had to watch.
I saw Corrie get in one move that looked promising but like everything else today it fizzled rather quickly.
Benaroya Research had a couple of strong riders here including Chris T but he never showed himself all day. And there were some Second Ascent riders that just pulled for the sake of getting a workout it seemed… what else can you call it when they have riders off the front and continue to lead the pack hard or chase like mad and then don't counter?
Towards the end of the race I had just put in an effort and was sorta gassed but with four to go I told myself I needed to maintain concentration and moved up again.
ASIDE - this course was really safe. I'm amazed that there were crashes in just about every field. It was also very easy to move up as both straights were nice and long.
With three to go some rider was off the front and Second Ascent was chasing them down. On the back stretch I moved up to second wheel as an opening appeared in that part of the bunch and when the rider off the front was caught the Second Ascent rider just kept plowing ahead at this pseudo time trial pace.
As we rounded turn three I saw the Lenovo rider behind me hesitate and one last look before turn four confirmed that there was about 20 feet of open space behind me. It was an opportunity served up on a silver platter so I had to take it.
Coming out of turn four I shifted up and easily left the Second Ascent rider behind. Gabe T and Dean J were watching from the finish line and had been cheering me on throughout the race and once again I heard them yelling my name. Support during races is awesome!
I had a huge gap crossing the line. Turn one and two were never so fine as on this lap. I took the whole road and practically did not have to stop pedaling and could have coasted to the top of the hill most likely. :)
But coasting won't win you any races and Garage had reacted swiftly to my move. Mike B caught me exactly one lap after I took off and the bunch swarmed me between turn three and four. Damn. This move was so perfect, if only I had the strength to finish it off. :(
ANOTHER ASIDE - Garage, unlike Second Ascent had a goal. After catching me with one lap to go they managed to lead out the winner. Good job. That's what you can do with eight riders and a plan and the willingness to carry it out.
As it was I had to settle for cruising across the line at the back. I felt like someone who knows what to do but is trapped in the body of someone less capable than they need in order to carry out the job. Because of family constraints I almost did not ride my bike at all in June but this last week has been fantastic. Race on Tuesday (PR), race on Wednesday (track), ride on Thursday, race again on Friday (track) and then the race today. It probably took a little of the edge off but it sure is fun!
I rode through/around one wreck in our race. It was fairly early on and was unfortunately all too typical. The pack was lining up for turn one and some guy decided to jam up the inside. Of course his bike handling skills were not up to the task and instead of leaning over far enough to hold his line (which would have been easy considering the unlimited traction) he faded right and bobbled his bike. This pushed people into the curb on the outside of the corner and some guy touched wheels in the process and went down kind of hard. I was told there were other crashes but never saw or heard them. Good for Corrie, Alastair and RC to stay away from that mess.
This is a fun course, I'll be back for sure. |