Good times. The weather turned out to be near perfect after all the wining I did the day before. And even with all the rain the last few days the course was actually in really good shape except for a mud-hole large enough to lose a VW in. Couple other tire sucker spots too but really not a big deal. It was actually quite fast.
So anyway, I had a lot of nervous energy pre-start that I was trying to mellow out. Going in to just my second comp race I really didn't know what to expect from the pace. I also was a little unsure about the four lap length and whether I'd bonk on the last one. In 06' I raced sport and won the series for my age group and then in 07' I was getting a business going so my training was sporadic and I only made it out for the one race--I digress.
The start horn blew and I worked the prologue to the top 15 spots before going into the single-track. I felt like I was hanging just fine. In fact I started reeling guys in and working my way to the front. Actually a little surprised by that and was wondering if I was going to hard. Coming out of the second lap I got after it on the pavement and went to the front of the the five guys I was following. Then the wind hit me, everybody started pace-lining me, and I realized it wasn't such a good idea. So after we rounded the finish area were headed back to single track I pulled up and pushed into the pace-line. I didn't want to blow my energy leading everyone around.
This group was moving along pretty well and we started lapping some of the other riders. Then as we were coming around a sharp corner I missed timed a crank stroke, caught a pedal on the high side of the berm and spun out and laid my bike down. Not smooth. Of course a few passed me but I got back on and a couple guys coming up the we had dropped let me go ahead. Worst part about something like that is the energy loss in the fall and getting going again, and having to bust my can to catch the guys I was with.
I passed a couple more riders and was pacing with two guys into with three others off the front we were bringing up 4th, 5th and 6th. Lap four was mostly filled with getting around riders that we were lapping and trying to stay in 6th place. I knew that I needed to save energy for the last sprint on the pavement and around the ball-field. As we came out of the woods and hit the pavement the two guys ahead of me turned it on but I caught them and squeezed an inside lane. One was able to get back around me on the tight corner but I lost momentum and couldn't hang. It was down to a sprint for 5th which I pulled out even though I felt like fainting. Its a great feeling to win a sprint at the finish like that.
In the end I ended up 1st in my age group and 5th overall. Descent results for #1 and actually a little surprising. I may actually have a shot at winning my age group this year.
*Picture courtesy of skinnyski.com
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