Race today went better for me. I almost did not race because I was just totally spent from setting up the course this morning and stressing over race management details. The decision was made and I got ready and planned to just race for series points. I am leading the Single Speed division, which by the way had a nice 13 rider turnout yesterday, and needed to finish in the top 10 to keep a gap on second place Bill Anderson.
As I line up next to Rich Anderson and the rest of the combined 53 rider Single Speed/Men's Cat 4 field, I had no energy and just knew that my streak of hole shots was going to come to an end. As the US
AC officials do their thing and send us off, I roll away and settle into an easy pace up to the first turn. Somehow I find myself out front again. Either no one likes to lead or I just have way to may fast twitch muscle fibers :-) To the left is a nice pic that Cameron took of me while leading. Do I look fat?Rich was behind me about 1/2 through the first lap and I wanted him to come around and lead and hopefully get a gap on the other Cat 4's. I settled into my race not really expecting much. I only had one speed today and planned to keep it at a steady temp and just gain points. I got passed by Andrew Coe on the first lap and knew I could not keep up with him. Just yesterday he got 5th in the Men's Elite 1/2/3 class. Today he decided to race with us Single Speeders on his new Specialized rig which is cool and make it hard on us old fat guys :-). By the end of the sec
ond lap Kyle Shour took over second place in the SS class and I was a solid third, but Dan Oldehoeft from team Crackanoon was fast closing in. On the last lap I was on the edge and put in one last effort to try and stay out front. The effort brought me up to Rich and a couple of the top 4 guys. I went past them and actually felt like I was "racing". Over the barriers and back on the bike. A quick look over to my left I see Dan right there. This going to be close. I hear Rich yelling encouragement. The legs start to go. I dig deep but still Dan bridges up to me. I decide to let him lead into the wind in hopes that I could somehow recover enough over the next 1/2 mile to be able to sprint past him at the finish. But it was not to be. He opened up enough of a gap on the final climb to the "Wall" to take the final podium spot. Still a good day for me given that I wasn't going to race 45 min prior to the event.Christopher had a great day today. He rode much better than yesterday and looked really well ag
ainst a solid junior field. Just like his dad he got the hole shot and I think lead until the same spot I has I did. I guess, as people often say, he takes after me. Joey Todd got by him on the first lap and never looked back. It is good to see a junior with so much enthusiasm for cycling. Joey put in two solid rides to win both days of the festival. About 20 minutes into the race he looked rough and was backing off the pace big time. I saw 3rd and 4th place catching fast and ran out to try and motivate him. I know first hand what he was going through and knew that he needed some help. I ran around the course trying to motivate him without making him upset. It seemed to work because he rode very well the last lap and put in some distance on 3rd.
1 comment:
I would agree that he does take after you. Look closely at your picture and then his ... check out the how you both have your mouths open as you are gasping for air!
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