RATL #4 CAT IV race shaped up with Gary B, Jason R, Matt O & I at the start. I had no idea how I was going to do and felt like team SBR was out gunned with the other teams having more horsepower that day. So I wanted our guys just to cover any moves and watch for breaks. Gary was able to get into one and as soon as I saw that all the teams were represented in it I jumped up to the front to block with Jason and a couple of guys from Stark. The break got away and had a huge gap, so I thought it was going to be a good day for SBR. After a couple of laps Matt says that Gary has popped off and is coming back.....crap. Matt & I got to the front and drive the pace hard doing a couple of rotations, Gary is back now and after a while Matt & I go to the back to recover. I look back and Jason is 10-20 meters back with Gary bringing him back up. Jason brings him back and then the rest of the race is spent with us trying to work the front as best as we can (Gary told me later that he had worked too much and stark & summit worked together to pop him off the back) to pull them back. They had by then well over a minute gap so that wasn't going to made up by us for sure. One of the other racers (not on purpose) pushed me off the road into the mud and it was cyclocross time, I controlled the off road excursion and got back on. I never felt after my crash during the first race that I was totally focused on racing; I didn't have the "killer attitude", I was trying to watch out for others and stay out of another crash. Not a good way to race.
Anyway, I sprinted from the back of the pack and took 16th, which was the best finish for me this series, this year. A far cry from last year I think. But not bad considering my fitness level and all the new faces we have in the group.
Masters race was next and Rudy laid down the law on a solo break away with John soloing for a 3rd place. Bill got to patrol the rest of the field and looked good coming off being sick.
Ernie stopped by from one of his marathon rides and wanted to know how things were shaping up with the Velodrome. Everyone was asking him if he was going to jump into the 1-3s race on his mountain bike.
The 1,2,3s were great to watch...nice job Tom K and David S., Ray and Tony rode really well as did Brett.
Almost 2GB of pictures have been posted to my FLICKR account. I enjoyed shooting the photos for anyone to download; if you would like to send a tax deductible donation to my favorite non-profit foundation, Fast Track Cycling that would be great.
Looking outside now I'm sooo glad Gary & I got in another ride yesterday after the race. 30 miles at a real good pace with steak/pasta & beer afterwards.
Caio,
Rick
3 comments:
Nice race and FANTASTIC photography.
nice. you know you were jonesing for some cx action anyway, right?
Thanks for the nice words Rick. I felt like someone was squashing my chest the whole race, not much lung capacity that day.
Your pictures are awesome too, keep up the great work!
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